THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


VESTY   OF  THE    BASINS 


a 


BY 


SARAH  p.  MCLEAN  GREENE 

AUTHOR  OF  "CAPE  COD  FOLKS"  ETC. 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS 
1892 


Copyright,  1892,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.— THE  MEETIN'," i 

II. — "  SETTIN'  ON  THE  LOG," 17 

III. — "  GETTIN'  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  Hoss's  SHU,"      .  26 

t 

TV. — LOVE,  LOVE, 43 

V. — COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,  AND  LOT'S  WIFE,        .  57 
VI. — THIS  GREATER  LOVE,  .        .        .        .                 -67 

VII. — "SETTIN'     ON    THE     FENCE"  —  THE     SHIFTY 

SPECTRE,        .......  79 

VIII.—"  VESTY  's  MARRIED," 83 

IX. — THE  TALE  OF  CAPTAIN  LEEZUR'S  SLY  COURT 
SHIP,        98 

X. — A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY'S  YACHT,  ....  104 

XI. — ANOTHER  NAIL,    .        .        .        .        .        .        .117 

XII. — THE  MASTER  REVELLER, 133 

XIII. — CAPTAIN   LEEZUR    RELATES   HOW    Mis'  GARRI 
SON  ATE  CROW, 139 

XIV. — "  TAR-A-TA  !  "  OF  THE  TRUMPET,         .        .        .  144 

XV. — THE  BROTHERS 158 

XVI.— THE  POPLAR  LEAVES  TREMBLE,  ...  167 


1765293 


iv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVII. — GOIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S,      .        .        .        .175 

XVIII.— UNCLE  BENNY  SAILS  AWAY  TO  GALILEE,          .  192 

XIX.— THE  BASIN 199 

XX. — SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE  "  POST-OFFICE,"    .  210 

XXI. — BROKEN  WINDOWS 220 

XXII. — "  NEIGHBORIN'," 228 

XXIII.— THE  "  FLAG-RAISIN',"  OR  THE  "  OCCASION,"   .  239 

XXIV.— THE  STORY  OF  THE  SACRED  Cow,     .        .        .  250 

X4CV. — IN  THE  LANE, 263 

XXVI. — JUST  THE  SCHOOL-HOUSE,          ....  266 


VESTY  OF  THE  BASINS 


THE    MEETIN' 

Now  is  it  to  be  rain  or  a  storm  of  wind  at  the 
Basin? 

I  love  that  foam  out  on  the  sea;  those  boulders, 
black  and  .wet  along  the  shore,  they  are  a  rest  to 
me;  the  clouds  chase  one  another;  in  this  dim  north 
country  the  wind  is  cool  and  strong,  though  it  is 
now  midsummer;  at  sunset  you  shall  see  such  color! 

From  a  little,  low,  storm-beaten  building  comes 
the  sound  of  a  fog-horn.  That  is  the  gift  of  Mel- 
chias  Tibbitts,  deceased,  to  the  Basin  school-house. 
Yonder  is  his  schooner,  the  "Martha  B.  Fuller," 
long  stranded,  leaning  seaward,  down  there  in  the 
cove. 

It  is  Sunday  afternoon ;  the  fog-horn  that  Melchias 
Tibbitts  gave — it  serves  as  bell ;  the  battered  school- 
house  as  church;  and  for  Sunday  raiment?  some 
little  reverent,  aspiring  compromise  of  an  unwonted 
white  collar,  stretched  stiff  and  holy  and  uncomfort 
able  about  the  stalwart  neck  above  a  blue  flannel 
shirt,  or  a  new  pair  of  rubber  boots — the  trousers 
i 


2  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

much  tucked  in — worn  with  an  air  of  conscious, 
deprecating  pride. 

But  the  women  will  be  fine.  God  only  knows 
how!  but  be  sure,  in  some  pitiful,  sweet  way  they 
will  be  fine. 

There  are  many  panes  of  glass  out  of  the  win 
dows,  the  panels  of  the  doors  are  out;  so  better 
they  can  see  the  clouds  pass:  it  is  beautiful. 

Oh,  naught  have  I  either,  nor  wisdom,  nor  fine 
speech — only  a  little  knowledge  of  shipwreck  out 
yonder,  and  mirth,  and  tears,  and  love.  The  win 
dows  and  panels  of  my  life  are  no  strong  plate, 
polished  and  glittering  to  all  beholders;  they  are 
stained  and  broken  through.  Let  me  come  in  and 
sit  with  ye. 

« 

"We  should  like  to  open  our  meetin'  with  singin'," 
said  Superintendent  Skates;  "will  one  of  the  Point 
ers  lead  us  in  singin'  ?" 

The  Pointers  were  the  aristocrats  of  this  region, 
living  twelve  miles  away  at  the  Point,  in  the  midst 
of  two  grocery  stores  and  a  millinery  establishment; 
there  were  two  of  them  here  for  a  Sunday  drive  and 
pastime.  They  were  silent. 

"I  see, "said  Elder  Skates  patiently,  "that  a  few 
of  the  Crooked  Rivers  have  drove  down  to-day,  too. 
Will  one  of  the  Crooked  Rivers  lead  us  in  singin'  ?" 

Lower  down  in  the  scale  than  the  Pointers  were 
they  of  Crooked  River,  but  still  far  above  the 
Basins;  those  present  were  not  singers,  they  were 
silent. 


THE     MEET-IN  3 

"  Then  will  one  of  the  Capers  lead  us  in  singin'  ? " 
very  meekly  and  patiently  persisted  Elder  Skates. 

Nearer,  and  of  low  degree,  were  they  of  the  Cape, 
but  still  above  the  Basins.  They  were  silent. 

"I  know, "  said  Elder  Skates,  his  subdued  tone 
buoyant  now  with  an  undertone  of  hope,  "  that  one 
of  the  Basins  will  lead  us  in  singin' !  " 

For  the  Basins  had  reached  those  cheerful  depths 
where  there  is  no  social  or  artistic  status  to  main 
tain  ;  so  low  as  to  be  expected  to  do,  or  attempt  to 
do,  whatever  might  be  asked  of  them,  even  though 
failure  plunged  them,  if  possible,  in  deeper  depths 
of  abasement.  There  was  nothing  beneath  them 
except  the  Artichokes;  and  it  was  seldom,  very 
seldom,  air  Artichoke  was  present. 

But  the  Basins,  though  so  low,  were  modest. 

"Can't  one  of  the  Basins  start,  'He  will  carry 
you  through '?"  said  the  enduring  Brother  Skates; 
"  where  is  Vesty  ? " 

"  She  's  a-helpin'  Elvine  with  her  baby, "  came  now 
a  prompt  and  ready  reply:  "she  said  she'd  come 
along  for  social  meetin',  after  you'd  had  Sunday- 
school,  ef  she  could." 

"  How  is  Elvine's  baby  ? "  spoke  up  another  voice. 

"Wai',  he  's  poored  away  dreadful,  but  Aunt  Lo- 
wize  says  he  's  turned  to  git  along  all  right  now, 
and  when  Aunt  Lowize  gives  hopes,  it  's  good  hopes, 
she  's  nachally  so  spleeny. " 

"Sure  enough.  Wai',  I've  raised  six,  and  nary 
sick  day,  'less  it  was  a  cat-bile  or  some  sech  little 
meachin'  thing.  I  tell  you  there  ain't  no  doctor's 


4  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

ructions  like  nine-tenths  milk  to  two-tenths  molasses, 
and  sot  'em  on  the  ground,  and  let  'em  root." 

At  this  simple  and  domestic  throwing  off  of  all 
social  reserve,  voices  hitherto  silent  began  to  arise, 
numerous  and  cheerful. 

"  Is  there  any  more  rusticators  come  to  board  this 
summer?" 

"  There  's  only  four  by  and  large,"  replied  a  male 
voice  sadly.  "These  here  liquor  laws 't  Washin'- 
ton  's  put  onto  nor'eastern  Maine  are  a-killin'  on 
us  for  a  fash'nable  summer  resort.  When  folks 
finds  out  't  they've  got  to  go  to  a  doctor  and  swear 
't  there  's  somethin'  the  matter  with  their  insides, 
in  order  to  git  a  little  tod  o'  whiskey  aboard,  they 
turns  and  p'ints  her  direc'  for  Bar  Harbor  and  Sara- 
togy  Springs;  an'  they  not  only  p'ints  her,  they 
h'ists  double-reef  sails  and  sends  her  clippin' !  " 

"  Lunette  's  got  two,"  came  from  the  other  side  of 
the  house. 

"  What  do  they  pay  ? " 

"  Five  dollars  a  week." 

"Pshaw!  what  ructions!  Three  dollars  a  week 
had  ought  to  pay  the  board  of  the  fanciest  human 
creetur  't  God  ever  created  yit.  But  some  folks 
wants  the  'arth,  and'll  take  it  too,  if  they  can  git 
it." 

"Wai',  I  don'  know;  they're  kind  o'  meachy,  and 
alias  souzlin'  theirselves  in  hot  water;  it  don't  cost 
nothin',  but  it  gives  yer  house  a  ridick'lous  name. 
Then  they  told  Lunette  they  wanted  their  lobsters 
br'iled  alive.  'Thar,'  says  she,  'I  sot  my  foot  down. 


THE     MEETIN  5 

I  told  'em  I  wa'n't  goin"  to  have  no  half-cooked 
lobsters  hoppin'  around  in  torments  over  my  house. 
I  calk' late  to  put  my  lobsters  in  the  pot,  and  put 
the  cover  on  and  know  where  they  be,'  says  she." 

"I  took  a  rusticator  once  't  was  dietin'  for  dys- 
pepsy — that  *s  a  state  o'  the  stomick,  ye  know,  kind 
o'  between  hay  and  grass — and  if  I  didn't  get  tired 
o'  makin*  toast  and  droppin'  eggs!  " 

"  I  never  could  see  no  fun  in  bein'  a  rusticator 
anyway,  down  there  by  the  sea-wall  on  a  hot  day, 
settin'  up  agin'  a  spruce  tree  admirin'  the  lan'- 
scape,  with  ants  an'  pitch  ekally  a-meanderin' 
over  ye." 

"  Lunette's  man-boarder  there,  the  husban',  he  's 
editor  of  a  noos-sheet,  and  gits  a  thousand  dollars 
a  year — 'tain't  believable,  but  it  's  what  they  say — 
an'  he  thinks  he  knows  it  all.  He  got  Fluke  to 
take  him  out  in  his  boat;  he  began  to  direc'  Fluke 
how  to  do  this,  an'  how  to  do  that,  and  squallin'  and 
flyin'  at  him.  Fluke  sailed  back  with  him  and  sot 
him  ashore.  'When  I  take  a  hen  in  a  boat,  I'll 
take  a  hen,'  says  he." 

"Did  ye  hear  about  Fluke's  tradin'  cows?" 

"No."— 

Meanwhile  Brother  Skates  had  been  standing  lis 
tening,  patient,  interested,  but  now  recovered  him 
self,  blushing,  in  his  new  rubber  boots. 

"Can't  one  of  the  Basins  start  'He  will  carry  you 
through*  ?  "  he  entreated. 

"I'd  like  to,"  said  one  sister,  the  string  of  her 
tongue  having  been  unloosed  in  secular  flights; 


6  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"I've  got  all  the  dispersition  in  the  world,  Brother 
Skates,  but  1  don't  know  the  tune." 

"  It  's  better  to  start  her  with  only  jest  a  good  dis 
persition  and  no  tune  to  speak  of,"  said  Brother 
Skates  with  gentle  reproof,  "  than  not  to  start  her  at 
all." 

Thus  encouraged  the  song  burst  forth,  with  tune 
enough  and  to  spare. 

It  was  this  I  heard — I,  a  happy  adopted  dweller, 
from  the  lowest  handle-end  of  the  Basin,  while  driv 
ing  over  through  the  woods  with  Captain  Pharo 
Kobbe  and  his  young  third  wife  and  children. 

"Come,  git  up," said  Captain  Pharo,  at  the  sound, 
applying  the  lap  of  the  reins  to  the  horse;  "ye've 
never  got  us  anywheres  yet  in  time  to  hear  'Amen' ! 
Thar  's  no  need  o'  yershyin'  at  them  spiles,  ye  darned 
old  fool!  Ye  hauled  'em  thar  yourself,  yesterday. 
Poo!  poo!  Hohum!  Wai — wal — nevermind — 


'  My      days    are       as       the      grass,   Or        as — ' 

Git  up!" 

As  we  alighted  at  the  school -house,  we  listened 
through  the  open  panel  with  comfort  to  the  final  but 
vociferous  refrain  of  "He  will  carry  you  through," 
and  entered  in  time  to  take  our  seats  for  the  class. 

Elder  Skates  stood  with  a  lesson  paper  in  his 
hand,  from  which  he  asked  questions  with  painful 
literalness  and  adherence  to  the  text. 

The  audience,  having  no  lesson  paper  or  previous 
preparation  of  the  sort,  and  not  daring  to  enter  into 


THE   MEETIN'  7 

these  themes  with  that  originality  of  thought  and 
expression  displayed  in  their  former  conversation, 
answered  only  now  and  then,  with  the  pale  air  of 
hitting  at  a  broad  guess. 

"  Is  sin  the  cause  of  sorrow?  "  said  Elder  Skates. 

No  reply. 

"Is  sin  the  cause  of  sorrow?"  he  repeated  faith 
fully. 

At  this  point,  one  of  a  row  of  small  boys  on  the 
back  seat,  no  more  capable  of  appreciating  this  crit 
ical  period  of  the  Sunday-school  than  the  broad-faced 
sculpin  fish  which  he  resembled,  took  an  alder-leaf 
from  his  pocket  and,  lifting  it  to  his  mouth,  popped 
it,  with  an  explosion  so  successful  and  loud  that  it 
startled  even  himself. 

His  guardian  (aunt),  who  sat  directly  in  front  of 
him,  though  deaf,  heard  some  echo  of  this  note;  and 
seeing  the  sudden  glances  directed  their  way,  she 
turned  and,  observing  the  look  of  frozen  horror  and 
surprise  upon  his  features,  said  severely,  "You  stop 
that  sithing "  (sighing). 

Delighted  at  this  full  and  unexpected  escape  from 
guilt  and  its  consequences,  the  sculpin  embraced 
his  fellow-sculpins  with  such  ecstasy  that  he  fell  off 
from  his  seat,  upon  the  floor. 

His  aunt,  turning  again,  and  having  no  doubt  as 
to  his  position  this  time,  lifted  him  and  restored 
him  to  his  place  with  a  determination  so  pronounced 
that  the  act  in  itself  was  clearly  audible. 

"  You  set  your  spanker-beam  down  there  now,  and 
keep  still !  "  she  said. 


8  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Elder  Skates  took  advantage  of  this  providential 
disturbance  to  slide  on  to  the  next  question: 

"  How  can  we  escape  trouble  ? " 

No  reply. 

"How  can  we  escape  trouble?"  he  meekly  and 
patiently  repeated. 

"Good  Lord,  Skates!  "said  Captain  Pharo,  and 
put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  for  his  pipe,  but  be 
thought  himself,  and  withdrew  it,  with  a  deep  sigh. 

Elder  Skates  had  looked  at  him  with  hope,  but 
now  again  mechanically  reiterated: 

"  How — can — we — escape — trouble  ?  " 

"We  can't!  we  can't  no  way  in  this  world!  "  said 
Captain  Pharo.  "Where  in  h — 11  did  you  scrape 
up  them  questions,  Skates?  Escape  trouble?  Be 
you  a  married  man,  Skates?  I'd  always  reckoned 
ye  was!  Poo!  poo!  Hohum!  Wai — wal — never 
mind — 


morn  -  ing    flow'r,  The     blight — '  " 

He  bethought  himself  again  of  his  surroundings, 
spat  far  out  of  the  window  as  a  melancholy  resource, 
and  was  silent. 

Elder  Skates,  alarmed  and  staggered,  looked 
softly  down  his  list  of  questions  for  something 
vaguely  impersonal,  widely  abstract,  and  now  lit 
upon  it  with  a  smile. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  'Alphy  and  Omegy'?" 
he  said — and  waited,  weary  but  safe. 

But  at  the  second  repetition  of  this  inscrutable 


THE    MEETIN  9 

conundrum,  a  lank  and  tall  girl  of  some  fifteen  sum 
mers,  arose  and  said,  not  without  something  of  the 
sublime  air  becoming  a  solitary  intelligence:  "It's 
the  great  and  only  Pot-entate. " 

Elder  Skates  showed  no  sign  of  having  been  hit 
to  death,  but  gazed  vaguely  at  each  one  of  his  audi 
ence  in  turn,  and  then  turned  with  dazed  approval 
to  the  girl. 

"Very  good.  Very  good  indeed, "  said  he.  "How 
true  that  is!  Let  us  try  and  act  upon  it  during  the 
week,  according  to  our  lights.  Providence — nor 
nothin'  else — preventin',  we  will  have  our  Sunday- 
school  here  as  usual  next  Sunday,  and  I  hope  we 
shall  all  try  and  keep  up  religion.  Is  there  any 
body  willing  to  have  the  'five-cent  supper'  this 
week,  in  order  to  raise  funds  for  a  united  burying- 
ground?  We  have  been  long  at  work  on  this  good 
cause,  but,  I'm  sorry  to  say,  interest  seems  to  be  flag- 
gin'.  Is  there  anybody  willin'  to  have  the  five-cent 
supper  this  week  ?" 

"  I  can,  I  suppose,"  said  the  woman  who  had  been 
willing  to  sing  without  tune.  "But  I  can't  give 
beans  no  longer.  I  can  give  beet  greens  and  duck." 

"I  don't  think  it  was  any  wonder  we  was  gettin' 
discouraged,"  said  another  now  resuscitated  voice. 
"  Zely  had  the  last  one,  and  Fluke  for  devilment 
gets  a  lot  of  the  Artichokes  over  early  ter  help  the 
cause.  Wai,  you  might  know  there  wa'n't  no 
beans  left  for  the  Capers  and  Basins,  and  Zely  was 
dreadful  mortified,  for  there  was  several  Crooked 
Rivers." 


10  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Cap'n  Nason  Teel  says,"  continued  that  indi 
vidual's  wife,  "that  the  treasury  's  fell  behind;  he 
says  there  ain't  nothin'  made  in  five-cent  suppers, 
Artichokes  or  no  Artichokes — in  beans  and  corn- 
beef;  he  says  we've  got  to  give  somethin'  that  don't 
cost  nothin'.  Beet  greens  and  duck  don't  cost  noth 
in',  and  if  that  's  agreeable,  I'm  willin'." 

"All  the  same,  beet  greens  and  duck  is  very  good 
eatin',  I  think,"  proposed  Elder  Skates,  and  receiv 
ing  no  dissenting  voice,  continued: 

"  Providence — nor  nothin'  else — preventing  there 
will  be  a  five-cent  supper  at  Cap'n  Nason  Teel's,  on 
Wednesday  evenin'.  Beet  greens  and  duck.  I  will 
now  close  the  Sunday-school,  trusting  we  shall  do  all 
we  can  during  the  week  to  help  the  cause  of  the  bury- 
ing-ground  and  of  religion.  As  soon  as  Brother  Bird- 
s'll  arrives,  we  can  begin  social  meetin'." 

"It  's  natch'all  he  should  be  late;  somebody  said 
't  he  was  havin'  pickled  shad  for  dinner." 

"Here  he  comes  now,  beatin'  to  wind'ard,"  said 
Captain  Pharo  from  the  window.  "He'll  make  it! 
The  wind  's  pilin'  in  through  this  'ere  school-house 
on  a  clean  sea-rake.  I  move  't  we  tack  over  to 
south'ard  of  her." 

This  nautical  advice  was  being  followed  with 
some  confusion ;  I  did  not  see  Vesty  when  she  came 
in,  but  when  the  majority  of  us  had  tacked  to  south 
'ard,  I,  electing  still  to  remain  at  the  nor'east,  saw 
her,  not  far  in  front  of  me,  and  knew  it  was  she. 

The  wind  was  blowing  the  little  scolding  locks 
of  dusky  brown  hair  in  her  neck;  her  shoulders  were 


THE    MEETIN  II 

broad  to  set  against  either  wind  or  trouble;  she  was 
still  and  seemed  to  make  stillness,  and  yet  her  breast 
was  heaving  under  hard  self-control,  her  cheeks  were 
burning,  her  eyes  downcast. 

I  looked.  Nestled  among  those  safe  to  the  south- 
'ard  was  a  young  man  with  very  wide  and  beautiful 
blue  eyes,  that  spoke  for  him  without  other  utter 
ance  whatever  he  would.  Of  medium  height  and 
build,  yet  one  only  thought,  somehow,  how  strong 
he  was;  clad  meanfy  as  the  rest,  even  to  the  rubber 
storm-bonnet  held  in  his  tanned  black  hand,  it  was 
yet  plain  enough  that  he  was  rich,  powerful,  and  at 
ease. 

His  wide  eyes  were  on  Vesty,  and  shot  appealing 
mirth  at  her-. 

She  never  once  glanced  at  him,  her  full  young 
breast  heaving. 

"  Can't  some  of  the  brothers  fix  this  scuttle  over 
my  head?"  said  Elder  Birds'll  nervously,  addressing 
the  group  of  true  and  tried  seamen,  anchored  cosily 
to  south'ard. 

One,  Elder  Cossey,  arose,  a  Tartar,  not  much 
beloved,  but  prominent  in  these  matters.  In  his  en 
deavors  he  mounted  the  desk  and  disappeared,  wrest 
ling  with  the  scuttle,  all  except  his  lower  limbs  and 
expansive  boots. 

"My  Lord!"  muttered  one  who  had  been  long 
groaning  under  a  Cossey  mortgage ;  "  ef  I  could  only 
h'ist  the  rest  of  ye  up  there,  and  shet  ye  up!  " 

"  I  sh'd  like  to  give  him  jest  one  jab  with  my  hat 
pin,"  added  a  sister  sufferer,  under  her  breath. 


12  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"The  scuttle  is  now  closed,"  said  Elder  Birds'll 
gravely,  as  Elder  Cossey  descended,  "  and  the  social 
meetin'  is  now  open." 

Here  the  blow  of  silence  again  fell  deeply. 

The  wide  blue  eyes  gave  Vesty  a  look,  like  the 
flying  ripple  on  a  deep  lake. 

She  did  not  turn,  but  that  ripple  seemed  to  light 
upon  her  own  sweet  lips;  they  quivered  with  the 
temptation  to  laugh,  the  littlef  scolding  locks  ca 
ressed  her  burning  ears  and  tickled  her  neck,  but 
she  sat  very  still.  I  fancied  there  were  tears  of  dis 
tress,  almost,  in  her  eyes.  I  wanted  her  to  lift  her 
eyes  just  once,  that  I  might  see  what  they  were 
like. 

"Hohum!"  began  Elder  Cossey,  with  wholly  de 
vout  intentions —  "  we  thank  Thee  that  another  week 
has  been  wheeled  along  through  the  sand,  about  a  foot 
deep  between  here  and  the  woods,  and  over  them  rot 
ten  spiles  on  the  way  to  the  Point,  and  them  four  or 
five  jaggedest  boulders  at  the  fork  o'  the  woods — I 
wish  there  needn't  be  quite  so  much  zigzagging  and 
shuffling  in  their  seats  by  them  't  have  come  in  bare 
foot  afore  the  Throne  o'  Grace,"  said  Elder  Cossey, 
suddenly  opening  his  eyes,  and  indicating  the  row  of 
sculpins  with  distinct  disfavor. 

"Yes,"  he  continued,  "we've  been  a-straddlin' 
along  through  troublements  and  trialments  and  af- 
flickaments,  hanging  out  our  phiols  down  by  the 
cold  streams  o'  Babylon,  and  not  gittin'  nothin'  in 
'em,  hohum!  "  • 

Vibrating  thus  mysteriously,  and  free  and  uncon- 


THE    MEETIN  13 

fined,  between  exhortation  and  prayer,  Elder  Cossey 
finally  merged  into  a  recital  of  his  own  weakness 
and  vileness  as  a  miserable  sinner. 

And  here  a  strange  thing  happened.  A  brother 
who  had  been  noticing  the  winks  and  smiles  cast 
broadly  about,  and  thinking  in  all  human  justice 
that  Elder  Cossey  was  getting  more  than  his  share, 
got  up  and  declared  with  emotion,  that  he'd  "  heered 
some  say  how  folks  was  all'as  talkin'  about  their 
sins  for  effex,  and  didn't  mean  nothin'  by  it,  but  I 
can  say  this  much,  thar  ain't  no  talkin'  for  effex 
about  Brother  Cossey;  he  has  been,  and  is,  every 
bit  jest  as  honest  mean  as  what  he  's  been  a-tellin' 
on!  " 

Elder  Skates  arose,  trembling.  "  Vesty,"said  he, 
with  unnatural  quickness  of  tone;  "will  you  start 
'Rifted  Rock'?" 

The  blue,  handsome  eyes  were  on  her  mercilessly — 
she  was  suffocating  besides  with  a  wild  desire  to 
laugh,  her  breath  coming  short  and  quick.  She 
gave  one  agonized  look  at  Brother  Skates,  and  then 
lifted  her  eyes  to  the  window. 

The  clouds  were  sad  and  grand;  there  was  a  bird 
flying  to  them. 

She  fixed  her  eyes  there,  and  her  voice  flowed  out 
of  her: 

"  '  Softly  through  the  storm  of  life, 
Clear  above  the  whirlwind's  cry, 
O'er  the  waves  of  sorrow,  steals 
The  voice  of  Jesus,  "  It  is  I."  ' 

The  music  in  her  throat  had  trembled  at  first  like 


14  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

the  bird's  flight,  winging  as  it  soared,  but  now  all 
that  was  over;  her  uplifted  face  was  holy,  grave: 

"  '  In  the  Rifted  Rock  I'm  resting.'  " 

Elder  Cossey  forgot  his  wrath  in  mysterious  deep 
movings  of  compunction.  Fluke,  who  had  entered, 
was  soft,  reverent,  his  fingers  twitching  for  his 
violin.  Even  so,  I  thought,  as  I  listened,  it  may 
be  will  sound  to  us  some  voice  from  the  other  shore, 
when  we  put  out  on  the  dark  river. 

"  Vesty,"  said  a  mite  of  a  girl,  coming  up  to  her 
after  meeting,  "  Evelin  wants  to  know  if  you  can  set 
up  with  Clarindy  to-night.  She  's  been  took  again." 

"Yes,"  said  Vesty,  the  still  look  on  her  face,  "I'll 
come." 

"Vesty,"  said  Elder  Skates,  "when  can  you  haul 
over  the  organ  and  swipe  her  out?  She  's  full  o' 
chalk." 

"I'll  try  and  do  it  to-morrow."  Vesty  looked  at 
Elder  Skates  and  smiled,  showing  her  wholesome 
white  teeth. 

"Vesty,"  said  Mrs.  Nason  Teel;  "I  want  ye  to  set 
right  down  here,  now  I've  got  ye,  and  give  me  that 
resute  for  Mounting  Dew  pudding." 

The  blue  eyes  at  the  door  gave  Vesty  an  imper 
ative,  quick  glance. 

But  she  sat  down  by  Mrs.  Nason  Teel ;  she  sat 
there  purposely  until  all  the  people  were  dispersed 
and  the  winding  lanes  were  still  outside. 

Then  she  went  her  own  way  alone,  something  like 
tears  veiled  under  those  long,  quiet  lashes. 


THE     MEETIN  15 

She  saw  first  a  muscular  hand  on  the  fence  and 
dared  not  look  up,  until  Notely  Garrison  had  vaulted 
over  at  a  bound  and  stood  before  her,  his  glad  eyes 
flashing,  his  storm  hat  in  his  hand. 

Then  her  look  was  wild  reproach. 

"Vesty!"  he  cried.  "Is  this  the  way,  after  all 
we  have  been  to  one  another  ?  Have  you  forgotten 
how  we  were  like  sister  and  brother,  you  and  I  ?  how 
Doctor  Spearmint  led  us  to  school  together?"  he 
laughed  eagerly.  "  How  " 

"I  haven't  forgotten,  Note.  But  it  can't  be  the 
same  again,  as  man  and  woman,  with  what  you  are, 
and  what  I  am." 

"Better!  O  Vesty!" — he  stood  quite  on  a  level 
with  her  now;  she  was  glad  of  that.  She  was  a  tall 
girl,  taller  than  he  when  they  parted.  "O  Vesty!  " 
he  drank  in  her  beauty  with  an  awe  that  uplifted  her 
in  his  frank,  bright  gaze — "  God  was  happy  when  He 
made  you!  " 

But  the  girl's  eyes  only  searched  his  with  a  Basin 
gravity,  for  faith. 

A  fatal  step,  searching  in  Notely 's  eyes!  A  beau 
tiful  pallor  crept  over  her  face,  flushing  into  joy. 
She  ran  her  hand  through  his  rough,  light  hair  in  the 
old  way. 

"  It  has  not  changed  you,  being  at  the  schools  so 
long,  as  I  thought  it  would,"  she  said  wistfully, 
stroking  his  hair  with  mature  gentleness,  though  he 
was  older  than  she.  "Why,  Note;  you  look  just  as 
brown,  and  hearty,  and  masterful  as  ever!  " 

"Oh,  but   it  wasn't  book-schools  I  went  to,  you 


1 6  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

know.  It  was  rowing  and  foot-ball  and  taking  six 
bars  on  the  running  leap,  and  swinging  from  the 
feet  with  the  head  downward,  and  all  that.  I  can 
do  it  all." 

He  looked  away  from  her  with  mischief  in  his 
eyes,  and  hummed  a  line  through  his  fine  Greek 
nose,  as  Captain  Pharo  might. 

"I  don't  doubt  it,  but  you  were  high  in  the  col 
lege  too — for  Lunette  saw  it  in  a  paper:  so  high 
it  was  spoken  of!  " 

"I  just  asked  them  to  do  that,  Vesty.  People 
can't  refuse  me,  you  know.  I  get  whatever  I  ask 
for." 

He  turned  to  her  with  a  sort  of  childish  pathos  on 
his  strong,  handsome  face. 

She  bit  her  lip  for  joy  and  pride  in  him,  even  his 
strange,  gay  ways. 

"Come,  Vesta!"  he  said,  with  an  air  of  natural 
and  graceful  proprietorship;  "a  stolen  meeting  is 
nonsense  between  you  and  me.  I  shall  see  you 
home." 


SETTIN'  ON  THE  LOG  17 


II 

"SETTIN'    ON    THE    LOG" 

His  face  invited  me,  the  skin  drawn  over  it 
rather  tightly,  resembling  a  death's-head,  yet  beam 
ing  with  immortal  joy. 

He  was  sitting  on  a  log;  his  little  granddaughter, 
on  the  other  side  of  him,  was  as  cheerfully  diverted 
in  falling  off  of  it.  He  was  picking  his  teeth  with 
some  mysterious  talisman  of  a  bone,  selected  from 
the  forepaw  of  a  deer,  and  gazing  at  the  heavens  as 
at  a  fond  familiar  brother. 

"Won't  you  set  down  a  spa-11,"  he  said,  and  the 
way  he  said  spell  suggested  pleasing  epochs  of  rest. 

"  Leezur's  my  name;  and  neow  I'll  tell  ye  how  ye 
can  all'as  remember  it;  it's  jest  like  all  them  great 
discoveries,  it's  dreadful  easy  when  it's  once  been 
thought  on.  Leezur — leezure — see?  Leezure  means 
takin'  things  moderate,  ye  know,  kind  o'  settin' 
areound  in  the  shank  o*  the  evenin' — Leezur — lee 
zure — see!  " 

Oh,  how  he  beamed !  The  systems  of  Newton  and 
Copernicus  seemed  dwarfed  in  comparison.  I  sat 
down  on  the  log;  the  little  girl,  gazing  at  me  in  as 
tonishment,  fell  off. 

"  What's  the  marter,  Dilly  ?  "  said  her  grandfather, 


1 8  VESTY    OF    TH£    BASINS 

in  the  same  slow,  mellow,  jubilant  tone  with  which 
he  had  propounded  his  discovery,  and  not  with 
drawing  his  fond  smile  from  the  heavens;  " 's  the 
log  tew  reoundin'  for  ye  to  set  stiddy  on  ?  " 

A  rattling  brown  structure  rose  before  us,  sur 
rounded  by  a  somewhat  firm  staging;  a  skeleton 
roof,  with  a  few  shingles  in  one  corner,  twisted  all 
ways  by  -the  wind.  It  told  its  own  tale,  of  an  inter 
rupted  vocation. 

"I  expect  to  git  afoul  of  her  agin  to-morrer," 
continued  Captain  Leezur;"ef  Pharo  got  my  nails, 
when  he  went  up  to  the  Point  to-day.  Some  neow 
'sall'as dreadful  oneasy  when  they  gits  to  shinglin'; 
wants  to  drive  the  last  shingle  deown  'fore  the  first 
one's  weather-shaped.  Have  ye  ever  noticed  how 
some's  all'as  shiftin'  a  chaw  o'  tobakker?  Neow 
when  I  takes  a  chaw  I  wants  ter  let  her  lay  off  one 
side,  and  compeound  with  her  own  feelin's  when  she 
gits  ready  to  melt  away.  Forced-to-go  never  gits 
far,  ye  know. 

"Some  "s  that  way,"  he  resumed;  "and  some  's 
sarssy. '.' 

I  looked  up  incredulously,  but  his  fostering,  ab 
stracted  smile  was  as  serene  as  ever. 

"Vesty,  neow,  stood  down  there  in  the  lane  this 
mornin',  and  sarssed  me  for  a  good  ten  minits; 
sarssed  me  abeout  not  havin'  no  nails,  and  sarssed 
me  abeout  settin'  on  the  log  a  spall;  stood  there 
and  sarssed  and  charffed." 

"  She  is  some  relative — some  grandniece  of  yours, 
Captain  Leezur  ? " 


SETTIN      ON    THE    LOG'  19 

"  No,  oh  no.  Vesty  and  me  's  only  jest  mates;  but 
we  charff  and  sarss  each  other  'tell  the  ceows  come 
home." 

I  thought  of  the  tall  girl  with  the  holy  eyelids 
and  the  brave  resistance  against  mirth,  and  in  spite 
of  my  predilection  for  Captain  Leezur,  his  words 
seemed  to  me  like  sacrilege. 

"I  saw  her,  Sunday,"  I  said. 

"Wai,  thar'  neow!  Vesty  's  jest  as  pious  lookin', 
Sundays,  as  Pharo's  tew-seated  kerridge.  I  tell 
her,  I'm  dreadful  glad  for  her  sake  that  there  ain't 
but  one  Sunday  tew  a  week,  she  couldn't  hold  out 
no  longer.  Still,  she's  vary  partickeler,  Vesty  is, 
and  she  's  good  for  taking  keer  o'  folks.  Elder 
Birds'll  says  't  ef  Vesty  Kirtland  ain't  come  under 
'tonin'  grace,  then  'tonin'  grace  is  mighty  skeerce 
to  the  Basin. " 

"She  is  beautiful,"  I  said. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  'beout  that.  Vesty  's  a  little 
more  hullsome  lookin'  sometimes  'long  in  the  win 
ter,  when  she  gits  bleached  out  and  poored  away  a 
bit." 

"  People  seem  to  depend  on  her  a  great  deal." 

"  Sartin  they  dew.  Wai,  Vesty  's  gittin'  on.  She 
's  nineteen  year  old.  She  can  row  a  boat,  or  dew 
a  washin',  or  help  in  a  deliverunce  case,  and  she  's 
r'al  handy  and  comfortin'  in  death-damps." 

"All  that!  Vesty — and  nineteen!"  I  think  I 
sighed. 

"Ye  mustn't  let  her  k/le  herself  reound  ye,"  said 
Captain  Leezur. 


20  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

I  looked  up  in  dismay.  Had  he  not  seen  my 
weakness  of  body,  and  my  birth-scarred  face? 

No,  apparently  he  had  not;  his  benign  blessed  face 
uplifted,  and  his  voice  so  glad: 

"Ye  know  how  'tis  with  women  folks;  they  don't 
give  no  warnin',  but  first  ye  know  they're  kilin' 
themselves  all  reound  and  reound  yer  h'art-strings. 
They  don't  know  what  it  's  for  and  ye  don't  know 
what  it  's  for;  but  take  a  young  man  like  you,  and 
ef  ye  ain't  keerful,  Vesty'll  jest  as  sartin  git  in  a 
kile  on  you  as  the  world." 

"How  about  that  strong-looking  young  man?"  I 
said.  "Very  easy,  swaggers  gracefully — with  the 
blue  eyes." 

"  Neow  I  know  jest  who  you  mean!  You  mean 
Note  Garrison.  Sartin,  Vesty  's  done  herself  reound 
him  from  childhood  to  old  age,  as  ye  might  say. 
I  don't  know  whether  he  c'd  ever  unkile  himself 
or  not,  but  I  shouldn't  want  to  bet  on  no  man's 
charnces  with  a  woman  like  Vesty  all  weound 
areound  and  reound  him  that  way.  Some  says  't  he 
wouldn't  look  at  a  Basin  when  it  comes  to  marryin'. 
But  thar' !  Note  all'as  kerries  sail  enough  ter  sink 
the  boat — but  what  he  says,  he'll  stick  to." 

"  He  is  rich,  then  ?" 

''Wai,  yes.  They  own  teown  prop'ty  some- 
whars,  and  they  own  all  the  Neck  here,  and  lays 
areound  on  her  through  the  summer.  Why,  Note's 
father — he  's  dead  neow — he  and  I  uster  stand  deown 
on  the  mud  flats  when  we  was  boys,  a-diggin'  clarms 


"SETTIN"  ON  THE  LOG"  21 

tergether,  barefoot;  'tell  he  cruised  off  somewhar's 
and  made  his  fortin'. 

"I  might  'a'  done  jest  the  same  thing,"  reflected 
Captain  Leezur  aloud,  with  a  pensiveness  that  still 
had  nothing  of  unavailing  regret  in  it,  "  ef  I'd  been 
a  mind  tew;  and  had  a  monniment  put  up  over  me 
like  one  o'  these  here  No.  10  Mornin'  Glory  coal 
stoves." 

I  too  mused,  deeply,  sadly. 

O  placid,  unconscious  sarcasm!  innocent  as  flow 
ers:  wise  end,  truly,  of  all  earthly  ambition!  Plow 
much  more  distinguished,  after  all,  Captain  Leezur, 
the  spireless  grave  waiting  down  there  in  the  little 
home  lot  by  the  sea.  Since  five-cent  suppers  do 
not  enrich  the  donor,  and  the  treasury  of  the 
United  Burying  Ground  is  permanently  low. 

"  Never  mind,  Dilly !  crawl  up  agin.  What  ef  ye 
did  tunk  onto  yer  little  head;  little  gals'  skulls  is 
yieldin'  and  sof." 

"What  is  the  weather  going  to  be,  Captain 
Leezur?"  I  said,  following  his  gaze  skyward. 

"Wai,  I  put  on  my  new  felts,"  said  he,  indicating 
without  any  false  assumption  of  modesty  those 
chaste  sepulchres  enclosing  his  feet — "hopin* 
'twould  fetch  a  rain!  said  I  didn't  care  ef  I  did  spot 
my  new  felts  ef  'twould  only  fetch  a  rain!  One 
thing,"  he  continued,  scanning  the  dilatory  sky 
with  a  look  that  was  keen  without  being  severe; 
"she'll  rain  arfter  the  moon  fulls,  ef  she  don't 
afore." 


22  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

I  reluctantly  made  some  sign  of  going,  but  was 
restrained.  "Wait  a  spall,"  he  said;  and  ran 
his  hand  anticipatively  into  his  pocket.  He 
brought  to  light  some  lozenges  that  had  evidently 
just  been  recovered  from  blushing  intimacy  with 
his  "  plug"  of  tobacco. 

"  Narvine  lozenges,"  he  explained;  "they're 
dreadful  moderatin'  to  the  dispersition;  quiet  ye; 
take  some. 

"  They  come  high,"  he  confided  to  me,  with  the  idea 
of  enhancing,  not  begrudging  the  gift,  as  we  sucked 
them  luxuriously;  "cent  apiece,  dollar  a  hunderd. 
Never  mind,  Dilly;  here  's  one  o'  Granpy's  narvine 
lozenges;  p'r'aps  it'll  help  ye  to  set  stiddier. " 

So,  with  a  glad  view  to  moderating  my  disposition, 
I  sat  with  Captain  Leezur  and  the  little  girl  on  the 
log,  and  ate  soiled  nervine  lozenges,  tinctured  origi 
nally  with  such  primal  medicaments  as  catnip  and 
thoroughwort ;  and  whether  from  that  source  or  not, 
yet  peace  did  descend  upon  me  like  a  river. 

As  I  finally  rose  to  go — 

"D'ye  ever  have  the  toothache?"  said  Captain 
Leezur  kindly;  "ef  ye  do,  come  right  straight 
deown  to  me,  and  ef  she  's  home  you  shall  have 
her" — and  he  exhibited  beamingly  that  talismanic 
little  bone  cleft  from  the  forepaw  of  a  deer. 
"Ye  pick  yer  teeth  with 'er  and  ye're  sartin  never 
to  have  the  toothache,  but  ef  you've  got  a  toothache, 
she'll  cure  ye. 

"Mine  's  been  lent  a  great  deal,"  he  continued 
proudly.  "  She  's  been  as  far  as  'Tit  Menan  Light, 


SETTIN      ON    THE    LOG  23 

and  one  woman  over  to  Sheep  Island  kep'  her  a  week 
once.  She  's  been  sent  for  sometimes  right  in  the 
middle  o'  the  night!  When  there  ain't  nobody  else 
a-usin'  of  her,  I  takes  the  charnce  to  pick  away  with 
her  a  little  myself.  But  ef  you  ever  feel  the  tooth 
ache  comin'  on,  come  to  me  direc' — and  ef  she  's 
home,  you  shall  have  her." 

I  thanked  him  with  a  swelling  heart.  We  shook 
hands  affectionately,  and  I  went  on  up  the  lane. 

I  turned  the  corner  by  the  school-house.  Away 
back  there  among  the  spruce  trees,  I  saw  moving 
figures,  red,  green,  blue,  and  heard  low  voices  and 
laughter. 

Then  I  remembered  how  I  had  heard  the  orphan 
"help"  of  my  hostess,  Miss  Pray,  make  a  request 
that  she  might  go  "gumming"  with  the  other  girls 
that  afternoon. 

It  was  a  long  perspective  to  limp  through  alone, 
with  all  those  bright,  merry  eyes  peering  from  be 
hind  the  spruce  trees.  But  I  had  not  labored  over 
half  the  way,  when  I  saw  one,  the  tallest  one, 
coming  toward  me. 

Vesty. 

"Won't  you  have  some?"  she  said.  "Strangers 
don't  know  how  good  it  is;  it  is  very  good  for  you 
— a  little."  Yes,  she  was  chewing  the  gum — a 
little — herself;  but  that  wild  pure  resin  from  the 
trees,  and  with,  oh,  such  teeth!  such  lips!  a  breath 
like  the  fragrant  shades  she  had  issued  from. 

She  poured  some  of  her  spicy  gleanings  into  my 
hand. 


24  VF.STY    OF    THE    BASINS 

And  now  I  could  see  her  closely. 

I  do  not  know  how  she  would  have  looked  at  other 
men,  strong  men;  but  at  me  she  looked  as  the  girl 
mother  who  bore  me,  untimely  and  in  terror,  might 
have  done,  had  she  been  now  in  the  flesh,  mutely 
protective  against  all  the  world,  without  repugnance, 
infinitely  tender. 

"  I  am  coming  up  to  sit  with  you  and  Miss  Pray, 
some  evening,"  she  said.  Her  warm  brown  fingers 
touched  mine.  She  did  not  blush;  she  had  her  Sun 
day  face — holy,  grave. 

"Come!  God  bless  you,  child!"  I  said,  and 
limped  on,  strong  against  the  world. 

I  sat  by  the  fireplace  that  evening;  not  a  night 
in  all  the  year  in  this  sweet  north  country  but  you 
shall  find  the  fire  welcome. 

Miss  Fray's  fireplace  stretched  wide  between  door 
and  door.  Opposite  it  were  the  windows;  you  saw 
the  water,  the  moon  shone  in. 

Miss  Pray  did  her  own  farming  and  was  sleepy, 
yet  sat  by  me  with  that  religious  awe  of  me  as  be 
fitting  one  who  had  elected  to  pay  seven  dollars  a 
week  for  board !  I  surprised  a  look  of  baffled  wonder 
and  curiosity  on  her  face  now  and  then,  as  well  as  of 
remorse  at  allowing  me  to  attach  such  a  mysterious 
value  to  my  existence. 

She  did  not  know  that  her  fire  in  itself  was 
priceless. 

It  burned  there — part  of  a  lobster  trap,  washed 
ashore,  three  buoys,  a  section  of  a  hen-coop,  a  bot 
tomless  chopping  tray,  a  drift-wood  stump  with  ten 


SETTIN      ON    THE    LOG  25 

fantastic  roots  sending  up  blue  and  green  flame,  a 
portion  of  the  wheel  of  an  outworn  cart,  some  lob 
ster  shells,  the  eyes  glowing,  some  mussel  shells, 
light  green,  and  seaweed  over  all,  shining,  hissing, 
lisping. 

Miss  Pray  snored  gently.  I  put  some  of  the 
spruce  gum  Vesty  had  given  me  into  my  mouth; 
well,  yes,  by  birth  I  have  very  eminent  right  to 
aristocratic  proclivities. 

But  the  spruce  woods  came  again  before  me  with 
their  balm,  and  her  face.  I  dwelt  upon  it  fondly, 
without  that  pang  of  hope  which  most  men  must  en 
dure,  and  smiled  to  think  of  Captain  Leezur's  dis 
may  if  he  should  know  how  Vesty  had  already 
coiled  herself  around  my  heart-strings! 


26  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


ITT 
"  GETTIN'  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS'S  SHU  " 

THEY  never  noticed  my  physical  misfortune  except 
in  this  way:  they  invited  me  everywhere;  to  mill,  to 
have  the  horse  shod,  all  voyages  by  sea  or  land;  my 
visiting  and  excursion  list  was  a  marvel  of  repletion. 

Captain  Pharo  came  down — my  soul's  brother — 
with  more  of  "a  hitch  and  a  go,"  than  usual  in  his 
gait. 

"  My  woman  read  in  some  fool-journal  some- 
wheres,  lately,"  he  explained,  "about  pourin'  kero 
sene  on  yer  corns  and  then  takin*  a  match  to  her  and 
lightin'  of  her  off. 

"Wai',  I  supposed  she  was  a-dressin'  my  corns 
down  in  jest  the  old  usual  way,  last  Sunday  mornin', 
when — by  clam!  ye  don't  want  to  splice  onto  too 
young  a  shipmate,  major."  (This  last  was  a 
divinely  Basin  thought,  treating  me  as  a  subject  of 
the  wars.) 

"I've  married  all  states  but  widders,"  said  Cap 
tain  Pharo,  with  a  blase  a\r  of  conjugal  experience; 
"but  my  advice  above  all  things  is,"  he  murmured, 
lifting  his  maimed  foot,  "don't  splice  onto  too  young 
a  shipmate.  They're  all'as  a-tryin'  some  new 
ructions  on  ye.  Now  Vesty,  even  as  stiddy  as  she 
is,  she  's  all'as  gittin'  the  women  folks  crazy  over 


GETTIN     A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  S  SHU  27 

some  new  patron  for  a  apern,  or  some  new  resute  for 
pudd'n'  and  pie.  So,"  he  added,  "ef  you  sh'd  come 
to  me,  intendin'  to  splice,  all  the  advice  't  I  c'd 
give  'ud  be,  I  don't  know  widders;  poo!  poo! — 
hohum !  Wai,  wal — 


'  My      days    are      as       the     grass,   Or        as — ' 

try  widders." 

As  I  stood  speechless  with  conflicting  emotions, 
he  lit  his  pipe  and  continued,  more  hopefully: 

"I've  got  to  go  up  to  the  Point  to  git  a  nail  put 
in  the  hoss's  shu,  so  I  come  down  to  ask  you  to  go 
up  to  the  house  and  jine  us." 

Now  I  already  knew  that  the  Basin  way  of  proceed 
ing  to  get  a  nail  put  in  the  horse's  shoe  meant  a  day 
of  widely  excursive  incident  and  pleasure,  in  which 
the  main  or  stated  object  was  cast  far  from  our  poeti 
cal  vision.  I  accepted. 

"  My  woman  invited  Miss  Lester  to  go  with  us. 
The  old  double-decker  rides  easier  for  havin'  con- 
sid'rable  ballast,  ye  know — and  Miss  Lester  tips  her 
at  nigh  onto  about  two  hunderd ;  she  's  a  widder  too, 
ain't  she,  by  the  way?  but  she  's  clost  onto  sixty- 
seven;  hain't  no  thoughts  o'  splicin',  in  course. 
Miss  Lester  's  a  vary  sensible  woman.  But  I  thought 
cruisin'  'round  with  her  kind  o'  frien'ly  on  the  back 
seat,  ye  might  git  a  sort  of  a  token  or  a  consute  in 
general  o'  what  widders  is." 

"  True,"  said  I  gratefully,with  flattered  meditation. 

"It  's  a  scand'lous  windy  kentry  to  keep  anything 


28  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

on  the  clo's-line,"  said  the  captain,  as  we  walked 
on  together,  sadly  gathering  up  one  of  his  stockings 
and  a  still  more  inseparable  companion  of  his  earthly 
pilgrimage  from  the  path. 

"What  's  the  time,  major?  "said  he,  as  he  led  me 
into  the  kitchen,  "  or  do  you  take  her  by  the  sun  ?  I 
had  Leezur  up  here  a  couple  o'  days  to  mend  my 
clock.  'Pharo, '  says  he,  'thar  's  too  much  friction  in 
her.'  So,  by  clam!  he  took  out  most  of  her  insides 
and  laid  'em  by,  and  poured  some  ile  over  what  they 
was  left,  and  thar'  she  stands!  She  couldn't  tick 
to  save  her  void  and  'tarnal  emptiness.  'Forced- 
to-go  never  gits  far,"  says  Leezur,  he  says — 'ye 
know.'  ' 

Captain  Pharo  and  I,  standing  by  the  wood-box, 
nudged  each  other  with  delight  over  this  conceit. 

"  'Forced-to-go  never  gets  far,  you  know,'  "  said  I. 

" 'Forced-to-go, '  "  began  Captain  Pharo,  but  was 
rudely  haled  away  by  Mrs.  Pharo  Kobbe,  to  dress. 

That  was  another  thing;  apparently  they  could 
never  get  me  to  the  house  early  enough,  pleased  that 
I  should  witness  all  their  preparations.  They  led 
me  to  the  sofa,  and  Mrs.  Kobbe  came  and  combed 
out  her  hair — pretty,  long,  woman's  hair — in  the 
looking-glass,  over  me;  and  then  Captain  Pharo 
came  and  parted  his  hair  down  the  back  and  brushed 
it  out  rakishly  both  sides,  over  me.  Usually  I  saw 
the  children  dressed;  they  were  at  school.  It  was 
too  tender  a  thought  for  explanation,  this  way  of 
taking  me  with  brotherly  fondness  to  the  family 
bosom. 


GETTIN     A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  S  SHU  29 

"  How  do  you  like  Cap'n  Pharo's  new  blouse?" 
said  his  wife. 

In  truth  I  hardly  knew  how  to  express  my  emo 
tions;  while  he  sniffed  with  affected  disdain  of 
his  own  brightness  and  beauty,  I  was  so  dim-looking, 
in  comparison,  sitting  there! 

"When  I  took  up  the  old  carpet  this  spring,  I 
found  sech  a  bright  piece  under  the  bed,  that  I  jest 
took  and  made  cap'n  a  blouse  of  her  —  and  wal,  thar! 
what  do  you  think  ?  " 

I  looked  at  him  again.  The  hair  of  my  soul's 
brother  had  ceased  from  the  top  of  his  head,  but  the 
long  and  scanty  lower  growth  was  brushed  out  several 
proud  inches  beyond  his  ears.  He  was  not  tall,  and 
he  was  covered  with  sections  of  bloom;  but  as  he 
turned  he  displayed  one  complete  flower  embracing 
his  whole  back,  a  tropical  efflorescence,  brilliant 
with  many  hues. 

"  She  is  beautiful,"  I  murmured;  "  what  sort  of  a 
flower  is  she?" 

"Oh,  I  don'  know,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  with 
the  same  affected  indifference  to  his  charms,  but 
there  was  —  yes,  there  was  —  something  jaunty  in  his 
gait  now  as  he  walked  toward  the  barn;  "they're 
rather  skeerce  in  this  kentry,  I  expect;  some  d  —  d 
arniky  blossom  or  other!  Poo!  poo! 


I     -  I 


—  &—&i——  —  —  -  —  i  --  1  -       —  i—  —  i  —  -  —     -        <&    f,  —  - 

'Or  as   the  morning  flowV.The  blighting  wind  sweeps  o'er,  she  with-' 

Come,  wife,  time  ye  was  ready!  " 

I  was  not  unprepared,  on  climbing  to  my  seat  in 


30         .  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

the  carriage,  to  have  to  contest  the  occupancy  of  the 
cushions  with  a  hen,  who  was  accustomed  to  appro 
priate  them  for  her  maternal  aspirations.  I  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  battle,  when  Mrs.Kobbe  coolly  seized 
her  and  plunged  her  entire  into  a  barrel  of  rain 
water.  She  walked  away,  shaking  her  feathers,  with 
an  angry  malediction  of  noise. 

"  Ef  they're  good  eggs,  we'll  take  'em  to  Uncle 
Coffin  Demmin'  and  Aunt  Salomy,"  said  Mrs.  Kobbe. 

She  brought  a  bucket  of  fresh  water,  benevolently 
to  test  them,  but  left  the  enterprise  half  completed, 
reminded  at  the  same  time  of  a  jug  of  buttermilk  she 
had  meant  to  put  up. 

She  went  into  the  house,  and  Captain  Pharo,  ab 
sorbed  in  lighting  his  pipe,  and  stepping  about 
fussily  and  impatiently,  had  the  misfortune  to  put 
a  foot  into  two  piles  of  eggs  of  contrasting  qualities. 

"By  clam!"  said  he,  white  with  dismay.  "  Ho- 
hum!  oh  dear!  Wai,  wal — 


i : r~i *^j 

'My      days    are        as — ' 

Guess,  while  she  's  in  the  house,  I'll  go  down  to 
the  herrin'-shed  and  git  some  lobsters  to  take  'em; 
they're  very  fond  on  'em."  He  gave  me  an  ap 
pealing,  absolutely  helpless  smile  of  apology,  and  the 
arnica  blossom  faded  rapidly  from  my  vision. 

Left  in  guardianship  of  the  horse,  I  climbed  again 
to  my  seat  and  covered  myself  with  the  star  bed- 
quilt,  which  served  as  an  only  too  beautiful  car 
riage  robe.  Thus  I,  glowing  behind  that  gorgeous. 


GETTIN'  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS'S  SHU  "      31 

ever-radiating  star,  was  taken  by  Mrs.  Kobbe,  I 
doubt  not,  for  the  culprit,  as  she  finally  emerged 
from  the  house  and  the  captain  was  discovered 
innocently  returning  along  the  highway  with  the 
lobsters. 

Let  this  literal  history  record  of  me  that  I  said  no 
word;  nay,  I  was  even  happy  in  shielding  my  soul's 
brother. 

"  Now,"  said  Mrs.  Kobbe,  as  we  set  forth,  "Miss 
Lester  said  not  to  come  to  her  house  for  her,  but 
wherever  we  saw  the  circle-basket  settin'  outside  the 
door,  there  she'd  be." 

"I  wish  she'd  made  some  different  'pointment," 
said  the  captain,  with  a  sigh. 

"Why?" 

"  Why !  don't  it  strike  ye,  woman,  't  they  's  nothin' 
ondefinite  'n  pokin'  around  over  the  'nhabited  'arth, 
lookin'  for  the  Widder  Lester's  circle-basket  ?  I  was 
hopin'  widders  was  more  definite,  but  it  seems  they're 
jest  like  all  the  rest  on  ye:  poo!  poo!  hohum — jest 
like  all  the  rest  on  ye. " 

"We've  got  to  find  her,  cap'n;  she  sets  sech  store 
by  talkin'  along  o'  major." 

"Major!"  sniffed  the  captain;  "she  ain't  worthy 
to  ontie  the  major's  shoe-lockets;  they  ain't  none 
on  'em  worthy,  maids,  widders — none  on  "em!" 

I  knew  to  what  he  referred,  what  gratitude  was 
moving  in  his  breast. 

"Wai,  thar  now,  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe!  ain't  Vesty 
Kirtland  worthy?" 

"Vesty!  "said  the  captain,  undismayed — "Vesty 


32  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

's  an  amazin'  gal,  but  she  ain't  nowheres  along  o' 
major! " 

"Wai,  I  must  say!  I  wonder  whatever  put  you 
in  such  a  takin'  to  major." 

He  did  not  say. 

We  travelled  vaguely,  gazing  from  house  to  house, 
and  then  the  road  over  again,  without  discovering 
any  sign  of  the  basket. 

"By  clam!  it  's  almost  enough  to  make  an  infidel 
of  a  man,"  said  the  captain,  furiously  relighting  his 
pipe. 

"  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe,  you're  all'as  layin'  every 
thing  either  to  women  or  religion." 

"  Don't  mention  on  'em  in  the  same  breath,"  said 
the  captain;  "don't.  They  hadn't  never  orter  be 
classed  together! " 

Fortunately  at  this  juncture  we  saw  Mrs.  Lester 
afar  off  at  a  fork  of  the  roads  standing  and  wav 
ing  her  arms  to  us,  and  we  hastened  to  join  her, 
but  imagine  the  captain's  feelings  when  from  the 
circle-basket  she  took  out  a  large,  plump  blue 
berry  pie,  or  "turnover,"  for  each  of  us,  with  a  face 
all  beaming  with  unconscious  joy  and  good-will. 

"  How  do  you  feel  now,  eatin'  Miss  Lester's  turn 
over,  after  what  you've  been  and  said?"  said  his 
wife. 

"What'd  I  say?"  said  the  captain  boldly,  im 
mersed  in  the  joys  of  his  blueberry  pie;  for  a  prim 
itive,  a  generic  appetite  attaches  to  this  region:  one 
is  always  hungry;  no  sooner  has  one  eaten  than  he 
is  wholesomely  hungry  again. 


"  GETTIN'  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  s  SHU         33 

"Do  you  want  me  to  tell  what  you  said,  Cap'n 
Pharo  Kobbe?" 

"Poo!  poo!"  said  the  captain,  wiping  his  mouth 
with  a  flourish. 


— ^_-^_-^ — ^~^ — '^' — i'~' — i~~il~li: — "^ ^ — ^L"~ 

'  Or  as  the  morning  flovv'r,  The  blighting  wind  sweeps  o'er,  she — '  " 

"You'd ought  to  join  a  concert,"  said  his  wife,  at 
the  stinging  height  of  sarcasm,  for  the  captain's  sing 
ing  was  generally  regarded  as  a  sacred  subject. 

But  there  was  one  calm  spirit  aboard,  my  compan 
ion,  Mrs.  Lester.  Ah  me!  if  I  might  but  drive 
with  her  again!  Her  weight  was  such,  settling  the 
springs  that  side,  that  I,  slender  and  uplifted,  and 
tossed  by  the  roughness  of  the  road,  had  continually 
to  cling  to  the  side  bars,  in  order  to  give  a  proper 
air  of  coolness  to  our  relationship. 

But  when  it  came  to  the  pie  I  had  to  give  up  the 
contest,  and  ate  it  reclining,  literally,  upon  her 
bosom. 

"I'm  glad  I  didn't  wear  my  dead-lustre  silk,"  said 
she  tenderly;  "  it  might  'a'  got  spotted.  I'm  all'as 
a  great  hand  to  spot  when  I'm  eatin'  blueberry  pie. " 

Blessed  soul!  it  was  not  she;  it  was  my  arm  that 
was  scattering  the  contents  of  the  pie. 

"You  know  I  board 'Blind  Rodgers, '  "  she  went 
on,  still  deeper  to  bury  my  regret  and  confusion.  I 
had  heard  of  him;  his  sightless,  gentle  ambition  it 
was  to  live  without  making  "spots." 

"Wai,  we  had  blueberry  pie  for  dinner  yesterday 
— and  I  wonder  if  them  rich  parents  in  New  York  't 
3 


34  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

left  him  with  me  jest  because  he  was  blind,  and 
hain't  for  years  took  no  notice  of  him  'cept  to  send 
his  board — I  wonder  if  they  could  'a'  done  what  he 
done?  I  made  it  with  a  lot  o'  sweet,  rich  juice, 
and  I  thought  to  myself,  'I  know  Blind  Rodgers'll 
slop  a  little  on  the  table-cloth  to-day,'  and  I  put  on 
a  clean  table-cloth,  jest  hopin'  he  would.  But 
where  I  set,  with  seein'  eyes,  there  was  two  or  three 
great  spots  on  the  cloth;  and  he  et  his  pie,  but  on 
his  place  at  table,  when  he  got  up,  ye  wouldn't  'a' 
known  anybody'd  been  settin'  there,  it  was  so  clean 
and  white!  " 

Some  tears  coursed  down  her  cheeks  at  the  pure 
recollection — we,  who  have  seeing  eyes,  make  so 
many  spots!  I  felt  the  tears  coming  to  my  own  eyes, 
for  we  were  as  close  in  sympathy  as  in  other  respects. 

Meanwhile  the  ancient  horse  was  taking  quite  an 
unusual  pace  over  the  road. 

"Another  sail  on  ahead  there  somewhere,"  said 
Captain  Pharo;  "hoss  is  chasin'  another  hoss.  It  's 
Mis'  Garrison's  imported  coachman,  takin'  home 
some  meal,  'cross  kentry.  He'  11  turn  in  to'ds  the  Neck 
by  'n'  by.  Poo!  poo!  Mis'  Garrison  wanted  Fluke  to 
coach  for  her;  he  was  so  strong  an'  harnsome;  an'  she 
was  tellin'  him  what  she  wanted  him  to  do,  curchy 
here,  and  curchy  there.  'Mis'  Garrison, '  says  Fluke, 
'I'll  drive  ye  'round  wherever  ye  wants  me  to,  but  I'll 
be  d — d  if  I'll  curchy  to  ye!'  So  she  fetched  alonp, 
an  imported  one." 

Whatever  the  obsequious  conduct  of  this  individ 
ual  toward  Mrs.  Garrison,  his  manners  to  us  were 


"  GETTIN'  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  s  SHU  '        35 

insolent  to  a  degree.  Having  once  turned  to  look 
at  us,  he  composed  his  hat  on  one  side,  grinned, 
whistled,  and  would  neither  turn  again  nor  give  us 
room  to  pass,  nor  drive  out  of  a  walk,  on  our  ac 
count. 

"Either  fly  yer  sails,  or  cl'ar  the  ship's  channel 
there,"  cried  Captain  Pharo  at  last,  snorting  with 
indignation. 

The  wicked  imported  coachman  continued  the 
same. 

It  was  now  that  our  horse,  who  had  been  meanwhile 
going  through  what  quiet  mental  processes  we  knew 
not,  solved  the  apparent  difficulty  of  the  situation 
by  a  judicious  selection  of  expedients.  He  lifted 
the  bag  of  meal  bodily  from  the  coachman's  wagon 
with  his  teeth,  and,  depositing  it  silently  upon  the 
ground  by  the  roadside,  paused  of  his  own  accord 
and  gravely  waited  for  us  to  do  the  rest. 

The  coachman  was  pursuing  his  way,  unconscious, 
insolent,  whistling. 

"She'll  take  it  out  o'  yer  wages;  she  's  dreadful 
close,"  chuckled  Captain  Pharo,  as  we  tucked 
the  bag  of  meal  away  on  the  carriage  floor.  "  See 
when  ye'll  scoff  in  my  sails,  and  block  up  the  ship's 
channel  ag'in!  Now  then;  touch  and  go  is  a  good 
pilot,"  and  we  struck  off  on  a  divergent  road  at  a 
rattling  pace. 

But  these  adventures  had  exhausted  so  much  time, 
when  we  arrived  at  Crooked  River  it  was  high  tide, 
and  the  bridge  was  already  elevated  for  the  passage 
of  a  schooner  approaching  in  the  distance. 


36  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"See,  now,  what  ye  done,  don't  ye?"  said  Cap 
tain  Pharo — I  must  say  it — with  mean  reproach, 
to  his  wife;  "we've  got  to  wait  here  an  hour  an*  a 
half." 

"Wai,  thar,  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe,  seems  to  me  I 
wouldn't  say  nothin'  'g'inst  Providence  nor  nobody 
else,  for  once,  ef  I'd  jest  got  two  dollars'  worth  o' 
meal,  jest  for  pickin'  it  up  off' n  the  road." 

Touched  by  this  view  of  the  case,  the  captain  sang 
with  great  cheerfulness  that  his  days  were  as  the 
grass  or  as  the  morning  flower — when  an  inspiration 
struck  him. 

"I  don'  know,"  said  he,  "why  we  hadn't  just  as 
well  turn  here  and  go  up  Artichoke  road,  and  git 
baited  at  Coffin's,  'slid  er  stoppin'  to  see  'em  on 
the  way  home.  I'm  feelin'  sharp  as  a  meat-axe 
ag'in." 

"  I  don'  know  whether  the  rest  of  ye  are  hungry  or 
not,"  said  plump  little  Mrs.  Kobbe;  "but  I'm  gittin' 
as  long-waisted  as  a  knittin'-needle." 

The  language  of  vivid  hyperbole  being  exhausted, 
Mrs.  Lester  and  I  expressed  ourselves  simply  to  the 
same  effect.  We  turned,  heedful  no  longer  of  the 
tides,  and  travelled  delightfully  along  the  Artichoke 
road  until  we  reached  a  brown  dwelling  that  I  knew 
could  be  none  other  than  theirs — Uncle  Coffin's  and 
Aunt  Salomy's;  they  were  in  their  sunny  yard,  and 
before  I  knew  them,  I  loved  them. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye!"  cried  Uncle  Coffin  Demmin, 
springing  out  at  us  in  hospitable  ecstasy,  Salomy 
beside  him;  "git  out!  git  out  quick!  The  sight  on 


"GETTIN*  A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS'S  SHU"      37 

ye  makes  me  sick,  in  there.  Git  out,  I  say!"  he 
roared. 

"No-o;  guess  not,  Coffin,"  said  Captain  Pharo, 
with  gloomy  observance  of  formalities;  "guess  I 
ca-arnt;  goin'  up  to  the  Point  to  git  a  nail  put  in 
my  hoss's  shu-u." 

But  Uncle  Coffin  was  already  leading  the  horse 
and  carriage  on  to  the  barn  floor. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye!"  he  exclaimed,  "git  out,  or  I'll 
shnte  ye  out." 

At  this  invitation  we  began  to  descend  with  cheer 
ful  alacrity. 

As  the  horse  walked  into  an  evidently  familiar 
stall,  Uncle  Coffin  seized  Captain  Pharo  and  whirled 
him  about  with  admiring  affection. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo!  "  he  cried,  struck  with  the 
new  jacket;  "ye've  been  to  Boston!  " 

"  I  hain't ;  hain't  been  nigh  her  for  forty  year, " 
said  Captain  Pharo,  but  he  was  unconscionably 
pleased. 

"Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo!  ye've  been  a-junketin' 
around  to  Bar  Harbor;  that  's  whar'  ye  been." 

"I  hain't,  Coffin;  honest  I  hain't  been  nigh  her," 
chuckled  Captain  Pharo. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo !  "  said  Uncle  Coffin,  seizing 
the  hat  from  his  head  and  regarding  its  bespattered 
surface  with  delight ;  "  ye've  been  a-whitewashin' !  " 

This  Captain  Pharo  proudly  did  not  deny.  "  Dod 
rabbit  ye,  Pharo!"  said  our  fond  host,  giving  him 
another  whirl,  "  yer  hair  's  pretty  plumb  'fore,  but 
she  's  raked  devilish  well  aft.  Ye  can't  make  no 


38  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

stand  fer  yerself!  Ye're  hungry,  Pharo;  ye're 
wastin' ;  come  along!  " 

Uncle  Coffin  seized  me  on  the  way,  but  in  voice 
less  appreciation  of  my  physical  meanness  he  sup 
ported  me  with  one  hand,  while  he  affectionately 
mauled  and  whirled  me  with  the  other. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye!  you  young  spark,  you!  what'  ye 
been  all  this  time?"  he  cried — though  I  had  never 
gazed  upon  his  face  before! 

His  rough  touch  was  a  galvanic  battery  of  human 
kindness.  It  thrilled  and  electrified  me.  No;  he 
had  not  even  seen  my  pitiful  presence.  I  do  not  know 
where  the  people  of  the  world  get  their  manners; 
but  these  Artichokes  got  theirs,  rough-coated  though 
they  were,  straight  from  the  blue  above. 

"Say!  whar'  ye  been  all  this  time?  That  's  what 
I  want  to  know,"  sending  a  thrill  of  close  human 
fellowship  down  my  back.  "Didn't  ye  reckon  as 
Salomy  and  me  'ud  miss  ye,  dodrabbitye!  you  young 
lawn-tennis  shu's,  you!" 

I  glanced  down  at  my  feet.  They  were  covered 
with  a  thick  crust  of  buttermilk  and  meal.  I  re 
membered  now  to  have  experienced  a  pleasant  sen 
sation  of  coolness  at  my  feet  at  one  time,  being  too 
closely  wedged  in  with  Mrs.  Lester  and  the  meal, 
however,  to  investigate. 

We  found,  on  searching  the  carriage,  that  the  jug 
had  capsized,  and  one  of  the  lobsters  had  extracted 
the  cork,  which  he  still  grasped  tightly  in  his  claw. 

"  Look  at  that,  Coffin, "said  Captain  Pharo  sadly; 
"  even  our  lobsters  is  dry!  " 


GETTIN     A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  S  SHU  "         39 

"Wai,  I'm  cert'nly  glad  now,"  said  Mrs.  Lester, 
surveying  the  bottom  of  her  gown,  "  't  I  didn't  wear 
my  dead-lustre  silk." 

"Why  so,  Mis'  Lester;  why  so?"  said  Uncle  Cof 
fin,  performing  a  waltz  with  the  small  remaining 
contents  of  the  buttermilk  jug.  "  Ef  it 's  a  beauty  in 
her  to  have  her  lustre  dead,  why  wouldn't  she  be 
still  harnsomer  to  have  her  lustre  dedder!  " 

He  drew  me  aside  at  this,  and  for  some  moments 
we  stood  helplessly  doubled  over  with  laughter. 
For  the  climate  serves  one  the  same  in  regard  to 
jokes  as  in  food.  One  is  never  satiated  with  them, 
and  there  are  no  morbid,  worn  distinctions  of  taste — 
an  old  one,  an  exceedingly  mild  one,  have  all  the  con 
vulsive  power  of  the  keenest  flash  from  less  healthy 
and  rubicund  intellects. 

When  we  had  recovered  ourselves  sufficiently  to 
walk,  we  went  into  the  house,  arm  in  arm.  There 
Uncle  Coffin  seized  Captain  Pharo  again  and  threw 
him  delightedly  several  feet  off  into  a  chair. 

"Ye're  weary,  Pharo,  dodrabbit  ye!  Set  thar'. 
Repose.  Repose.  Wait  'tell  the  flapjacks  is  ready. 
They're  fryin'.  Smell  'em?" 

We  perceived  their  odor,  and  that  of  the  wild 
strawberries  and  coffee  which  Mrs.  Lester  had  taken 
from  her  circle-basket. 

"Why,  father,"  said  Aunt  Salomy,  as  we  sat  at 
table,  giving  me  a  glance  indicative  of  a  beaming 
conversance  with  elegant  conventionalities;  "ye 
shouldn't  set  the  surrup  cup  right  atop  o'  the  loaf  o' 
bread.' 


40  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  Never  mind  whar'  she  sets,  mother,"  said  Uncle 
Coffin  gayly,  "so  long  as  she  's  squar'  amidships." 

He  would  pour  out  the  treacle  for  us  all — for  that 
it  was  sweeter,  sweeter  than  any  refined  juices  I  ever 
tasted.  No  denials,  no  protestations  would  avail  to 
stay  the  utter  generosity  of  his  hand. 

The  griddle-cakes  were  of  the  apparent  size  of  the 
moon  when  she  is  full  in  the  heavens. 

"Come,  Pharo,  brace  up.  Eat  something  dod- 
rabbit  ye!  Ye're  poorin'  away  every  minute  ye're 
settin'  there;  ye  hain't  hauled  yerself  over  but  two 
yit." 

"By  clam!  Coffin,  sure  as  I'm  a  livin'  man,  I've 
hauled  myself  over  fourteen,"  said  Captain  Pharo 
seriously. 

"Come,  come,  major;  ye're  fadin'  away  to  a 
shadder.  Ye  hain't  hauled  yerself  over  nothin' 
yet." 

"Oh,  I  have,"  I  rejoined,  with  urgent  truth  and 
unction.  "I  can't,  honestly  I  can't,  haul  myself 
over  anything  more." 

In  spite  of  some  suggestive  winks  directed  on  my 
behalf,  not  then  understood,  I  remained  innocently 
with  Mrs.  Lester  and  Aunt  Salomy  while  they  were 
doing  the  dishes.  But  presently  through  the  open 
window  where  I  sat  I  felt  a  bean  take  me  sharply 
in  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and,  turning,  I  discovered 
Captain  Pharo  outside.  He  winked  at  me.  I 
naively  winked  back  again.  He  coughed  low  and 
meaningly;  I  smiled  and  nodded. 

He  disappeared,  and  ere  long  I  felt  one  of  my 


GETTIN     A  NAIL  PUT  IN  THE  HOSS  S  SHU  41 

ears  tingling  from  the  blow  of  another  bean.  It 
was  Uncle  Coffin  this  time;  his  wink  was  almost 
savage  with  excess  of  meaning.  I  returned  it  ami 
ably.  He  coughed  low  and  hopelessly,  and  disap 
peared. 

But  soon  after  he  came  walking  nonchalantly  into 
the  room. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  major!"  said  he,  punching  me 
with  a  vigorous  hand,  "  don't  ye  take  no  interest  in  a 
man's  stock  ?  Come  along  out  and  look  at  the  stock. " 

At  that  I  rose  and  followed  him.  Captain  Pharo 
was  waiting  for  us.  They  did  not  speak,  but  they 
led  the  way  straight  as  the  flight  of  an  arrow  to  the 
barn,  walked  undeviatingly  across  the  floor,  lifted 
me  solemnly  ahead  of  them  up  the  ladder  to  the  hay 
mow,  stumbled  across  it  to  the  farthest  and  darkest 
corner,  dived  down  into  it  and  brought  up  an  ancient 
pea-jacket,  unrolled  it,  and  produced  from  the 
pocket  a  bottle,  labelled  with  what  I  at  once  knew 
to  be  Uncle  Coffin's  own  design: 

"RAT  PISON  To  TOUCH  HER  is  DETH." 

"  Drink !  "  said  Uncle  Coffin. 

All  his  former  levity  was  gone.  He  had  the  look 
of  bestowing,  and  Captain  Pharo  of  witnessing  be 
stowed,  upon  another,  a  boon  inestimable,  priceless, 
rare. 

A  temperate  familiarity  with  the  use  of  the  cup 
informed  me  at  once  of  the  nature  of  this  liquid.  It 
was  whiskey  of  a  very  vile  quality. 

But  even  had  it  contained  something  akin  to  the 


42  VESTY   OF   THE    BASINS 

dark  sequel  on  its  label,  I  could  not  have  refused  it 
from  Uncle  Coffin's  hand. 

Slightly  I  drank.  Captain  Pharo  drank.  Uncle 
Coffin  drank. 

The  bottle  was  replaced,  and  we  as  solemnly 
descended. 

I  had  never  been  unwarily  affected,  even  by  a 
much  larger  quantity  of  the  pure  article;  perhaps 
by  way  of  compensation  an  electric  spark  from  Uncle 
Coffin's  own  personality  had  entered  into  this  com 
pound.  More  likely  still,  it  was  the  radiant  atmo 
sphere. 

But  I  remembered  standing  out  leaning  against 
the  pig-pen,  with  Captain  Pharo  and  Uncle  Coffin, 
of  nudging  and  being  nudged  by  them  into  frequent 
excess  of  laughter  over  some  fondly  rambling  anec 
dote  or  confiding  witticism,  until  Captain  Pharo, 
"  taking  the  cun,"  decided  to  put  off  until  some  other 
day  going  to  the  Point  to  get  a  nail  put  in  the 
horse's  shoe. 

I  remembered — well  might  I,  for  they  were  in  my 
own  too — the  honest  tears  in  the  eyes  of  Uncle 
Coffin  and  Aunt  Salomy  as  we  parted;  of  being 
tucked  in  again  under  the  Star,  with  new  accessions 
to  our  store,  of  dried  smelts  and  summer  savory, 
and  three  newly  born  kittens  in  a  bag,  which  I  was 
instructed  to  hold  so  as  to  give  them  air  without  al 
lowing  them  to  escape.  Yes,  and  of  the  dying  splen 
dor  of  the  sun,  the  ineffable  colors  painting  sea  and 
sky;  and  of  knowing  that  if  I  had  not  already  be 
come  a  Basin,  I  should  inevitably  have  joined  the 
Artichokes. 


LOVE,    I,OVE  43 


IV 
LOVE,  LOVE 

AT  Garrison's  Neck  was  the  old  Garrison  "  shanty  " 
— Notely's  ideal;  well  preserved;  built  onto  it  a 
spacious  dwelling,  with  stables  attached,  after  Mrs. 
Garrison's  idea. 

Notely's  shanty  was  a  mixture  of  elegant  easy- 
chairs  and  drying  oil-skin  raiment,  black  tobacco 
pipes,  books,  musical  instruments,  fishing-tackle, 
mirth  and  evening  firelight;  all  the  gravitation  of 
the  premises  was  toward  it — the  Garrison  guests 
yearned  for  it. 

His  mother  was  with  him  now. 

"You  will  drive  down  to  the  boat  with  me  and 
meet  them,  Notely?" 

Notely  whistled  with  respectful  concern,  but  his 
eyes  were  as  happy  as  the  dawn. 

"  Oh,  well,  ah — h — I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  let  Tom 
drive  you  down  to-day,  mother.  I've  an  engage 
ment  to  sail  over  to  Reef  Island." 

Mrs.  Garrison  did  not  condescend  to  look  an 
noyed.  She  smiled,  sweet  and  high. 

"  Considering  the  social  position  of  Mrs.  Langham 
and  her  daughter,  and  their  wealth,  Notely,  you 
might  postpone  even  Jhat  engagement.  Possibly 


44  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

you  could  arrange  to  play  with  the  fisher  girl  some 
other  day." 

When  Notely  was  puzzled  or  provoked  he  felt  for 
the  pipe  in  his  pocket,  just  like  old  Captain  Pharo, 
laughed,  and  came  straight  again. 

"Why,  mother!  you  were  a  Basin  girl  yourself — 
the  'Beauty  of  the  Basins,'  "  he  said,  with  soft  pride 
— he  knew  no  better — and  smiled  as  though  he  saw 
another  face. 

"Are  you  foolish?"  said  his  mother,  giving  way 
sharply. 

When  one  has  come  from  such  degree,  has  sought 
above  all  earthly  good,  and  earned,  a  social  emi 
nence  such  as  Mrs.  Garrison  had  attained,  it  will 
leave  some  unbending  lines  on  lip  and  brow;  the 
eyes  will  not  melt  easily,  although  it  wrings  one's 
heart  to  find  that  one's  only  child  is,  after  all,  an 
ingrained  Basin;  yet  their  features  were  the  same, 
only  Notely's  were  simple,  expressive  Basin  eyes — 
hers  had  become  elevated. 

"You!  who  have  /';/  you  such  success,  if  you  only 
would! "  she  cried. 

"'Success,'  I'm  afraid,  mother,"  said  Notely,  with 
one  of  those  sighs  that  was  like  a  wayward  note  on 
his  violin;  "it  's  a  diviner  thing,  however,  you 
know,  to  have  in  you  the  capacity  for  failure." 

"You  are  as  remarkable  a  mixture  of  barbarism 
and  sentiment  as  your  shanty,"  sneered  Mrs.  Garri 
son,  looking  about.  "  Do  you  speak  in  the  Basin 
'meetings'  ?" 

"No,"   said   Notely.      "!•  ought    to.      Think   of 


LOVE,    LOVE  45 

what  I  have  had,  and  their  deprivations.  But 
there  's  always  something  comes  up  so  d — d 
funny!" 

Mrs.  Garrison  smiled  sympathetically  now.  "O 
Notely,  think  of  the  Langhams,  and  Grace  even 
willing  to  show  her  preference  for  you,  decorously, 
of  course,  but  we  all  know." 

Notely  grabbed  his  pipe  hard  and  shook  his  head. 

"Why?"  said  his  mother  again,  sharply.  "I  am 
sure  Miss  Langham  is  nearly  as  boisterous  and  in  as 
rude  health  as  the  fisher  girl.  I  have  even  known 
her  to  make  important  endearing  lapses  in  grammar." 

Notely  was  silent. 

"Do  you  think,  after  a  life-struggle  to  earn  a  place 
in  society,  Ft  is  filial  and  generous  on  your  part,  for 
the  sake  of  a  fisher  sweetheart,  to  be  willing  to  sink 
your  family  back  again  into  skins  and  Gothicism?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  young  man,  a  hurricane  in  his 
blue  eyes,  which  his  strong  hands  gripped  back. 

"Very  well;  if  you  so  elect,  go  back  then,  and  be 
a  common  fisherman;  but  you  shall  have  no  counte 
nance  of  mine." 

"Shouldn't  wonder  if  it  would  be  a  good  thing. 
With  the  health  I  have,  give  me  leisure  and  plenty 
of  money,  and  I'm  always  certain  to  break  the  traces 
and  make  a  run.  Common  fisherman  it  is."  But 
he  stood  out  bravely  at  the  same  time  in  an  extrav 
agant  new  yachting  costume,  for  he  was  going  by 
appointment  to  meet  his  sweetheart. 

"You  might  help  her  up,  mother — socially,  that  is; 
she  needs  no  other  help." 


46  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Never!" 

Notely  lifted  his  cap  to  his  mother — the  reproach 
in  his  eyes  was  as  dog-like  as  if  he  had  not  just 
graduated  from  the  schools — and  walked  away. 

She  looked  after  him,  a  scornful  sweet  smile  curv 
ing  her  lips.  As  the  apple  of  her  eye  she  loved  him; 
it  is  necessary  but  hard  to  be  elevated. 

Notely  put  up  sail  and  skirted  the  shore  with  his 
boat  till  he  came  to  the  waters  of  the  Basin.  Then 
he  looked  out  eagerly,  but  Vesty  was  not  on  the 
banks  waiting. 

"Was  there  ever  a  Basin  known  to  be  on  time?" 
he  muttered,  smiling  and  flushing  too.  He  was  al 
ways  jealous  of  her. 

He  made  fast  his  boat  and  sprang  with  light  steps 
over  the  sea-wall. 

Here  was  a  good  sign;  so  the  Basins  held.  No 
sign  so  propitious  to  a  love  affair  as  meeting  with 
one  of  God's  innocent  ones — a  "  natural. "  And  here 
was  Dr.  Spearmint  (Uncle  Benny)  leading  the  chil 
dren  to  school — the  very  little  ones.  They  clung  to 
him,  and  one  he  carried.  • 

And  he  was  singing,  in  a  sweet,  high  voice: 

"  We  all  have  our  trials  here  below, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee! 

There's  a  tree  I  see  in  Paradise, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee! 

Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Put  on  your  long  white  robe  of  peace, 
And  sail  away  to  Galilee!  " 


LOVE,    LOVE  47 

"Hello!  Uncle  Benny — 'Dr.  Spearmint'" — he 
liked  that  best.  "  Well,  how  are  you  ?  how  are  you  ? 
and  have  you  seen  Vesty  this  morning?" 

"  Fluke  and  Gurd  's  keepin'  company  with  her  this 
mornin',"  said  Dr.  Spearmint,  in  a  voice  softer  than 
a  woman's.  "  I  jest  stopped  to  sing  a  little  with 
'em  on  the  way.  I  look  dreadful,"  he  added,  rather 
ostentatiously  fingering  a  light  blue  necktie. 

"  Oh,  no,  doctor ;  fine  as  usual, "  exclaimed  Notely, 
anger  in  his  soul,  but  with  heart-broken  eyes. 

"I  suppose,"  said  the  soft,  sweet  voice,  "there  's 
a  great  deal  o'  passin'  in  New  York,  ain't  there?" 

"What,  doctor?" 

"A  great  deal  o'  passin'  there,  ain't  there?" 

"Oh,  sights  of  it!  Oh,  my,  yes!  passing  along 
the  streets  all  the  time." 

"  Some  there  's  worth  four  or  five  thousand  dollars, 
ain't  they?"  said  the  sweet,  incredulous  voice. 

"  God  bless  you !  yes,  doctor !  the  more  's  the  pity, " 
said  Notely,  with  strange  earnestness.  "  And  how  's 
fruiting? " 

"  Dangleberries  are  quite  plenty,  thank  you,  "  the 
voice  replied.  When  he  had  left  the  little  ones  at 
school  he  would  go  off  and  gather  berries;  but  he 
would  call  for  them  without  fail  and  lead  them 
home.  The  little,  tired,  restless  souls  always 
found  him  out  there  in  the  sweet  air  and  sunshine, 
waiting.  Notely  remembered ;  so  he  and  Vesty  had 
been  led. 

He  passed,  singing,  out  of  sight  with  the  chil 
dren  : 


48  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  Sail  away  to  Galilee, 

Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Put  on  your  long  white  robe  of  peace, 

And  sail  away  to  Galilee!  " 

Notely  felt  a  homesick  pang.  Vesty  was  his 
home;  he  walked  on  toward  her  threshold.  Vesty's 
father  had  taken  a  new  wife,  and  Vesty  was  almost 
always  seen  now  with  a  baby  in  her  arms. 

So  she  was  sitting  as  Notely  drew  near;  and 
Fluke  and  Gordon  were  there,  with  a  pretence  of 
fingering  their  violins.  They  looked  up,  as  if  ex 
pecting  him. 

"Why  did  you  not  come,  Vesty?"  said  her  lover. 
"You  promised  me." 

"I've  got  something  to  say  about  that,"  said 
Fluke.  "  I  sot  Vesty  down  on  that  doorhold,  and  I 
threatened  to  shute  heref  she  moved  off 'n  it.  When 
she  was  tellin'  Gurd'  that  you  was  'round  again 
wantin'  to  keep  company  with  her  jest  the  same, 
says  I,  'We'll  see  about  that.'  Vesty  hain't  got  no 
brothers,  nor  no  mother,  to  look  after  her,  and  so 
Gurd'  and  me,  which  is  twin  brothers  to  each  other, 
is  also  goin'  to  be  brothers  to  her,  and  see  that  there 
ain't  no  harm  done  to  Vesty." 

"Well,  then,  Fluke,  you  are  the  best  friends  that 
either  of  us  have,"  said  Notely  calmly. 

"Why  didn't  ye  let  her  alone  in  peace?"  blurted 
out  Fluke.  "She  was  keepin'  company  contented 
enough  along  o'  Gurd',  ef  you'd  only  left  her  alone. 
What'd  ye  come  back  a-makin'  love  to  her  for?" 

"Because  she  is  going  to  be  my  wife,"  said  Note- 


LOVE,    LOVE  49 

ly.  "  We  always  kept  company  together,  since 
we  were  that  high!  Belle  Birds'll  was  Gurdon's 
company.  Vesty  was  my  company."  His  voice 
trembled.  This  was  simple  Basin  parlance  and 
unanswerable. 

"  Ye  mean  it  ? " 

"If  you  want  to  fight,  Fluke,  come  out  and  fight." 
Notely's  eyes  cut  him. 

"All  the  same,"  said  he,  "ef  you  sh'd  happen  to 
change  your  mind  by  'n'  by,  as  fash'nable  fellers 
in  women's  light-colored  clo's  does  sometimes, 
there  's  a-goin'  to  be  shutin'." 

Notely  grabbed  his  pipe,  and  his  laugh  rang  out. 

"Come,"  he  said,  "you  know  me!  you  know  me! 
Confound  the  pretty  clothes!  I  only  put  them  on 
so  as  to  try  and  have  Vesty  like  me!  " 

"Wai*  now,  Vesty,  make  your  choice.  You'd 
ruther  keep  company  along  o'  Note  than  Gurd',  had 
ye? "  But  he  could  not  restrain  the  severe  contempt 
in  his  voice  in  making  the  comparison. 

Vesty  had  been  soothing  her  face  in  the  baby's 
frowzled  hair. 

"  I  told  you ,"  she  said.  But  she  glanced  up  at 
Gurdon,  and  her  face  was  piteous,  his  had  turned  so 
white. 

"Come,  Gurd'!  What  d'ye  care?  Goon,  Vesty, 
ef  ye  want  to.  Gurd  'n'  me' 11  tote  the  baby  till  El- 
vine  gits  back."  He  took  the  infant  and  began  to 
toss  it,  to  compensate  it  for  Vesty's  withdrawal. 
His  thick  black  hair  fell  over  his  forehead,  his  nose 
was  fine  and  straight.  Gurdon  came  forward  obedi- 
4 


50  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

ently  to  assist  him.  He  had  the  same  great  bulk, 
and  even  handsomer  features,  only  that  his  hair  was 
smooth  and  parted. 

Vesty  and  her  lover  passed  on  together.  Her 
heart  was  leaping  with  joy  and  pride  of  him;  still, 
she  saw  Gurdon's  look. 

"You  have  been  so  long  at  that  great  college, 
Notely." 

"Yes." 

"  Why  must  some  one  always  be  hurt  ?  " 

"We  go  to  school,  but  the  schools  can't  teach  us 
anything,  Vesty. 

"  '  Oh,  sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee  ! ' ' 

he  hummed  airily,  gayly.  "What  was  it  you  'told 
them'  back  there,  Vesty?" 

Where  now  was  Vesty's  Sunday  face  ?  You  would 
look  far  to  find  it. 

"  I  told  them  you  were  a  dude,"  said  she. 

"Did  you,  indeed!  Girls  who  lead  the  singing 
in  Sunday-school  are  not  telling  many  very  particu 
lar  fibs  this  morning,  are  they?  But  you  shall  own 
up  before  night." 

O  Vesty! — the  call  of  the  "  whistlers"  down  in 
the  meadow  by  the  sea-wall — "love!  love!  love!" 
No  other  note;  it  is  that,  too,  breathing  in  the  swift 
sails  and  bounding  the  sea! 

"You  sail  your  boat  as  well  as  ever,  Captain 
Notely." 

"  And  why  not — wife  ? " 


LOVE,   LOVE  51 

These  were  the  appellations  of  the  old  days,  taken 
from  their  elders — "cap'n"  and  "wife." 

Vesty  did  not  think  he  would  have  dared  that. 
Her  dark  eye  chastised  him.  But  he  was  not  look 
ing  impudent;  he  was  resolute  and  pale. 

Vesty  shivered.  With  all  her  earnest,  sad  experi 
ence  of  life,  with  her  true  love  for  Notely,  she  was 
yet  in  no  haste  to  be  bound.  Wild,  too,  at  heart; 
or  else  somehow  the  sea  wind  and  the  swift  sails  had 
freed  her. 

"Don't  say  that  again.  Come,  catch  the  fish  for 
our  dinner,  Note." 

"I'm  only  a  humble  Basin,  Miss  Kirtland.  I 
didn't  think  to  fetch  no  bait." 

Vesty  took  a  parcel  of  six  small  herrings  from  her 
pocket,  laughing. 

"Yes,  our  women  are  smart,"  sighed  Notely. 

"Shall  you  catch,  or  will  I?" 

"You,"  said  Notely,  tossing  out  the  anchor. 

He  watched  her,  strong  and  beautiful,  her  lips 
pursed  with  the  feline  pursuit  of  prey,  as  she  baited 
her  hook  and  threw  out  the  line,  quite  oblivious 
now,  apparently,  of  him. 

He  saw  her  thrill  with  excitement  as  the  line  stif 
fened  and  she  began  to  haul  in,  hand  over  hand ;  it 
was  a  big  cod  too.  Vesty  always  had  the  luck. 
There  was  glory  in  her  cheeks  when  she  brought  the 
struggling,  flopping  fish  over  into  the' boat. 

"Vesty,"  said  Note  mischievously,  drawing  near, 
"how  would  you  feel  to  be  caught  like  that  on  the 
end  of  somebody's  line  —  struggling,  flopping?" 


52  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

His  sentimental  tone  gave  way  in  spite  of  himself. 
She  turned  and  gave  him  a  smart  box  on  the  ear. 

"Very  well,  Miss  Vesty  Kirtland,  very  well.  But 
there  's  a  marriage  ceremony  and  a  binding  to  'love, 
honor  and  obey,'  after  which  young  women  don't 
box  their  husbands'  ears  —  aha  ! — at  least,  mine 
won't." 

"  Notely  Garrison,"  said  Vesty,  with  Basinly  and 
womanly  indignation,  "I  never  fished  for  you  in  all 
my  life — never!  " 

"Instinctive,  darling;  not  your  fault.  Uncon 
scious  cerebration ;  do  you  understand  ?  " 

She  did,  a  little,  and  she  grievously  disapproved 
of  him. 

"Kiss  me,  dearest,"  he  pleaded.  "You  kissed 
me  once,  when  I  first  came  home." 

"All  the  m-more  reason  why  you  ought  not  to  ask 
me  now.  I  w-wish  you'd  get  your  m-mind  on  some 
thing  besides  me.", 

Notely  walked  away,  pulled  up  the  anchor,  and 
set  sail  again.  Vesty  composed  herself  at  the  end 
of  the  boat. 

"Sweet-tempered  child!  "said  he,  regarding  her 
from  the  helm. 

She  dipped  her  hand  in  the  water  and  smoothed 
her  stray  locks;  they  curled  up  again.  She  was  dis 
tressed,  and  Notely's  mirthful  eyes  gave  her  no  rest. 

"  My  mind  is  still  on  you,  Vesty — and  will  be  for 
ever  and  aye,  sweetheart." 

With  that  he  turned  kindly  and  looked  away,  and 
Vesty  bound  up  her  hair. 


LOVE,   LOVE  53 

Presently:  "The  tapestries  are  beautiful  to-day, 
Note,"  she  said. 

They  were  sailing  through  the  shallows  near  Reef 
Island,  and  they  looked  down  through  the  green 
water.  Gold,  bronze  and  yellow,  and  dark  velvet 
green,  the  tracings  of  broad  sea-leaf  and  trailing 
vine  on  that  floor. 

"  There  isn't  another  house  in  any  land  tapestried 
like  ours,  Vesty.  Say,  wouldn't  that  be  a  charming 
place,  after  all,  to  rest,  when " 

"You're  getting  aground,  Note!" 

"  Thank  you  !  How  fortunate  that  you  are 
aboard!  I  know  how  to  steer  a  boat  a  little,  of 
course,  but  nothing  like " 

Vesty  laughed,  dazzled  by  this  sarcasm.  "  But 
you  didn't  think  of  the  bread  or  the  salt  or  the  pork 
for  the  chowder,"  said  she  triumphantly. 

"Ah,  I  see  you  have  them.  You  always  think  of 
those  things.  You  were  always  my  little  woman, 
you  know.  You  are  my  home." 

As  the  boat  touched  the  ledge  she  sprang  out  be 
fore  him.  By  the  time  he  had  fastened  his  boat 
and  clambered  over  the  ledges  with  the  kettle  which 
he  had  brought  from  the  crane  in  his  shanty,  Vesty 
had  a  fire  of  drift-wood  burning. 

She  prepared  the  chowder,  while  he  whittled  out 
some  forks  of  wood  and  gathered  firm  pieces  of  kelp 
for  dishes. 

They  ate,  with  only  the  voice  of  the  gulls,  scream 
ing,  flying  in  disturbed,  beautiful  flight  over  the 
wide,  lone  island. 


54  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Now  for  the  gulls'  eggs,"  said  Vesty,  rising,  no 
dishes  to  put  away. 

"What  a  carnivorous  little  wild-cat  it  is — for  one 
so  necessary  to  the  sick  and  afflicted!  " 

"Didn't  you  come  to  hunt  gulls'  eggs,  Note?" 

"  You  know  that  that  is  my  sole  aim  and  ambi 
tion  in  life.  Come! " 

Over  ledges  and  salt  marshes,  at  the  feet  of  the 
thin,  storm-broken  trees,  they  found  them,  nestled 
there,  three,  four,  eight  in  a  nest,  the  birds  flying, 
circling  overhead.  Vesty  gathered  them  in  her 
apron,  eager,  searching  from  tree  to  tree.  Her  hair 
came  down.  She  looked  up  at  Note,  apologetic, 
humble,  so  eager  she  hardly  minded. 

"Hold  my  apron,  Note." 

This  he  did  obediently. 

With  downcast  eyes  and  a  blush  on  her  cheeks 
that  would  have  exonerated  Eve,  she  wound  up  her 
hair  again,  and  restored  her  own  hold  on  her  apron. 

"I  did  not  kiss  you  then,  Vesty." 

"Well,  of  course." 

"  I'm  good,  but  my  mind  is  still  on  you." 

Over  ledges  and  salt  marshes,  and  the  thin,  storm- 
broken  trees,  and  out  there  on  the  water  there  's  a 
strange  color  growing.  Even  the  Basins  seldom  fail 
to  start,  at  least,  for  home  by  sunset. 

So  a  little  white  sail  puts  out  on  the  crimson  sea. 
The  breeze  is  dying  out,  the  waters  lap,  subside. 
Notely  takes  down  the  sail  and  rows. 

The  sea  fades  to  softer  colors,  hushed,  wondrous, 
near  the  dim  shore. 


LOVE,    LOVE  55 

"  It  isn't  ever  known,  in  any  place  in  all  the 
world,  that  angels — no,  I  know — but  look,  Note! — 
they  almost  might." 

"Only  here  at  the  Basin,  Vesty;  when  that  very 
last  light  fades.  I  saw  two  flying  up — flying  back 
again — just  now.  How  many  did  you  see?" 

She  turned  her  happy,  awesome  eyes  on  him,  but 
his  keen  face,  in  that  light,  was  as  simple  and  pa 
thetic  as  her  own. 

"But  my  mind  is  on  you,  Vesty.  Now,  before  we 
touch  the  shore,  when  will  you  marry  me?" 

"I've  been  thinking.  O  Note,  perhaps  it  isn't 
my  place  to  marry  you;  perhaps  I  wouldn't  do  you 
any  good-  to  marry  you,  Note.  They  say  you  were 
first  in  your  class,  off  there,  and  there  are  so  many 
things  for  you,  and  your  mother,  and  friends,  will 
help  you  so  much  more — if  I  don't." 

"I  may  as  well  tell  you  the  truth,  Vesty.  I'm 
not  that  strong  person  that  I  look" — the  angels  that 
he  saw,  flying  up,  will  forgive  that  sly  smile  on  the 
boy's  mouth — "  I  couldn't  go  away  and  leave  you, 
and  go  into  that  false,,  feverish  struggle  out  there, 
and  live  anything  more  than  the  wreck  of  a  life,  at 
least.  I'm  affected." 

"  Where  is  it  that  you  have  such  trouble,  Note  ? " 

"  It  's  my  heart,  Vesty  Kirtland.  I  must  have  a 
Basin  for  my  wife,  calm,  strong,  sweet;  one  who  can 
see  the  'angels'  now  and  then — just  you,  in  fact." 

He  handed  her  out  of  the  boat  and  walked  home 
with  her.  At  the  edge  of  the  alders  they  stood. 
They  could  see  the  light  in  her  father's  house. 


56  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  When,  Vesty  ? "  he  repeated. 

"  O  Note,  I  love  you !  "  she  sobbed ;  "  but  I  must 
have  a  little  time  to  think.  Every  girl  has  that." 

"  Very  well.  You  must  keep  your  mind  on  me, 
however." 

"  Hark !  hear  the  poplars  tremble.  You  know 
what  always  makes  them  sigh  and  shiver  that  way, 
Note?" 

"I've  forgotten." 

"  They  made  the  cross  for  Christ  out  of  the  pop 
lars;  they  never  got  over  it — see  them  shiver!— 
hush!" 

"O  my  beautiful  one!"  He  took  her  hands. 
"What  was  it  you  'told  them'  back  there  this  morn 
ing,  Vesty,  before  we  started  ?  " 

"  You  are  cruel !     ONote!" 

He  drew  her  to  him.  Her  lips  would  not  tell. 
Her  Basin  eyes,  that  he  was  gazing  mercilessly  into, 
betrayed  her. 

"Good  child!  sweet  child!  with  my  strong  right 
arm,  and  a  willingness  for  all  toil  and  patience  and 
endeavor,  and  all  my  soul's  love,  I  thee  endow." 
He  kissed  her  solemnly. 

"Love,  love,  love,"  chanted  in  ecstasy  a  thrush 
from  the  dim  recesses  of  the  wood. 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,    AND  LOT'S  WIFE  57 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,  AND  LOT'S  WIFE 

"I  OFTEN  thinks  o'  Columbus  and  the  egg.  All 
them  big  folks  in  Spain  was  settin*  areound,  ye 
know,  ta'ntin'  of  him,  and  sayin'  as  how  an  egg 
couldn't  be  made  to  sot. 

"  So  Columbus,  he  took  one  up  and  give  her  a 
tunk,  pretty  solid,  deown  onto  the  table.  'There!' 
says  he;  'you  stay  sot,'  says  he,  'and  keep  moderate 
a  spall,'  says  he.  'Forced-to-go  never  gits  far,' 
says  he. 

"  Then  there  was  Lot's  wife. 

"  I  don't  remember  jest  the  partickelers,  nor  what 
she  was  turnin'  areound  to  look  for;  whether  she 
was  goin'  to  a  sewin'-circle  and  lookin'  back  to  see 
what  Lot  was  dewin'  to  home,  or  whether  she  was 
jest  strokin'  deown  her  polonaise  a  little,  the  way 
women  does;  but  anyway,  she  was  one  o'  this  'ere 
kind  that  needed  moderatin'. 

"So  she  got  turned  into  a  pillar  o'  salt,  and  there 
she  sot.  But  I've  heerd  lately  that  she  's  got  up  and 
went?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  I  murmured. 

"Yes;  Nason  was  tellin'  me  how  't,  the  last  time 


58  VESTY   OF    THE    BASINS 

he  went  cruisin',  he  met  a  man  't  'd  jest  come  from 
Jaffy,  't  told  him  how  't  Lot's  wife  had  got  up  and 
went. 

"Wai,  I  was  glad  to  hear  on't.  Moderation  's  a 
virtu',  even  in  all  things.  She  must  'a'  sot  there 
some  three  or  four  hunderd  pretty  consid'rable  num 
ber  o'  years,  's  it  was.  Don't  want  to  ride  a  free 
hoss  to  death,  ye  know.  I  wish  't  this  critter  that  's 
visitin'  up  to  Garrison's  Neck  could  be  got  sot  a 
spall.  She  fa'rly  w'ars  me  out." 

Captain  Leezur  blinked  at  the  sun,  however,  all 
heavenly  placid  and  unworn. 

"I  happened  to  meet  her  in  the  lane,"  I  said. 
"  She  had  not  seen  me  before.  She  screamed." 

"Thar'!  that  's  jest  her!  Wai,  neow,  I  hope  ye 
didn't  mind.  Sech  folks  don't  do  no  harm  'reound 
on  the  'arth,  no  more'n  lady-bugs,  'nd  r'a'ly,  they 
dew  help  to  parss  away  the  time. 

"Neow  this  Langham  girl,  she  driv  up  here  with 
Note  t'other  day,  to  git  some  lobsters. 

"'O  Mr.  Garrison,'  says  she,  'see  that  darlin' 
old  aberigin/le  a-settin'  out  thar'  on  that  log, '  says 
she.  'Dew  drive  up;  I  want  ter  talk  to  him,'  says 
she. 

"  Wai,  I  put  in  a  chaw  o'  tobackker,  and  tucked 
her  up  comf'table  one  side,  and  there  I  sot,  with 
my  head  straight  for'ards,  not  lettin'  on  as  I'd 
heered  a  word;  t'wouldn't  dew,  ye  know. 

"So  she  came  up  with  a  yaller  lace  parasol, 
abeout  twelve  foot  in  c'cumf'rence,  sorter  makin' 
m&  think  of  a  tud  under  a  harrer ;  though,  I  sh'd  have 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,    AND  LOT'S  WIFE  59 

to  say  it  afore  the  meetin'-house,  she  was  dreadful 
purty-lookin',  an'  blamed  ef  she  didn't  know  it. 

"Wai,  I  see  she'd  made  up  her  mind  to  kile  her 
self  'reound  me,  ef  she  could.  She  kept  a-arskin' 
questions,  and  everything  she  arsked  I  arnswered  of 
her  back  dreadful  moderate,  and  every  time  I  arn 
swered  of  her  back  she'd  give  a  little  larff,  endin' 
up  on  'sol  la  ce  do,'  sorter  highsteriky;  so't  I  was 
kind  o'  feelin'  areound  in  my  pocket  t'  find  her  a 
narvine  lozenger. 

"And  then  I  thought  I  wouldn't.  All  they  want 
is  the  least  little  excuse  and  they'll  begin  to  kile. 
When  ye're  in  deoubt,  ye  know,  stand  well  to  lee 
ward." 

I  looked  at  my  friend  with  new  gratitude,  for  the 
perils  he  had  passed. 

"  She  said  she  thought  the  folks  to  the  Basin  was 
so  full  of  yewmer  and  pathers,  'don't  yew?'  says 
she. 

"Wai,  I  told  her  I  didn't  know  ars  to  that. 
'Yewmer  's  that  'ar'  'fliction  't  Job  had,  ain't  it  ? '  says 
I, 'and  pathers — thar'  ye've  kind  o'  got  me,'  says  I, 
"less  maybe  it  's  some  fancy  New  York  way  o'  reel- 
in'  off  pertaters, '  says  I. 

;''Oh,  dear!'  says  she,  kind  o'  highsteriky  ag'in, 
and  Note  driv  off  with  her,  she  a-wavin'  her  hand 
to  me:  but  I  set  straight  for'ards,  not  lettin'  on  to 
take  no  notice  of  her.  'No,  no,  young  woman,' 
thinks  I  to  myself,  'ye  don't  git  in  no  kile  on  me!'  ' 

The  nervine  lozenge  which  my  friend  had  cau 
tiously  refrained  from  giving  Miss  Langham  he  now 


60  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

bestowed  upon  me.  I  accepted  it,  for  I  was  in  sore 
need  of  it. 

I  could  not  refrain  from  asking  him,  however,  if 
he  had  offered  Miss  Langham  his  deer-bone  tooth 
pick. 

"No,"  said  he,  "she's  lent  neow,  anyway.  John 
Seabright  's  got  her  over  to  Herrinport.  I  don't  say 
but  what  if  that  'ar'  Langham  girl  sh'd  have  a  r'al 
bad  spall  o'  toothache  come  on,  but  what  I'd  let  her 
take  her,  but  I'd  jest  as  soon  she  didn't  know  nothin* 
'beout  it.  I'd  ruther  not  make  no  openin'  for  a 
kile." 

We  sucked  our  nervine  lozenges  with  mutual 
earnestness. 

"You  are  getting  on  finely  with  the  barn,"  I  said, 
noticing  several  new  rows  of  shingles  on  the  roof. 

"  Yes,  I  sh'd  be  afoul  of  her  ag'in  to-day,  only 
't  Nason  come  over  yisterday  and  borrowed  my 
lardder.  I'm  expectin'  of  him  back  with  her  along 
in  the  shank  o'  the  evenin'.  Preachin'  ain't  so 
bad,"  continued  my  friend,  contemplatively,  as  the 
school-teacher  passed  by;  "but  I'd  ruther  be  put  to 
bone  labor  'n  school  teachin'.  Ye've  all'as  got  to  be 
thar',  no  marter  heow  many  other  'ngagements " 

"  Leezur!  "  called  the  soft  voice  of  a  Basin  matron 
from  the  door.  "  Leezur,  have  ye  fished  the  bucket 
out  o'  the  well  ?" 

"Jest  baitin'  my  hook,  mother,"  said  my  friend, 
his  face  breaking  into  the  broadest  human  beam  I 
ever  saw. 

He  rose,  and  we  walked  toward  the  well.      Now 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,    AND  LOT'S  WIFE  6 1 

first  I  noticed  his  gait;  every  step  was  a  smiling 
protest  against  further  advancement,  which,  how 
ever,  was  made  not  unwillingly. 

I  observed,  too,  an  illustration  of  this  same  smile 
in  his  rear,  made  by  an  unconscious  and  loving  wife, 
in  a  singular  disposition  of  patches:  three  on  his 
blouse  fortuitously  representing  eyes  and  nose,  and 
a  long  horizontal  one,  lower  down,  combining  with 
these  in  an  undesigned  but  felicitous  grin. 

My  friend  disclosed  this  smiling  posterior  to  full 
view,  stretching  himself  face  downward  on  the  earth, 
and  burying  his  head,  with  the  grappling  pole,  in 
the  well. 

"This 'ere  job,"  his  voice  came  to  me  with  res 
onant  jubilance,  "  requires  a  vary  moderate  disper- 
sition:  'specially  arfter  the  women  folks  has  been 
a-grapplin'  for  her,  and  rilin'  the  water,  and  jabbin' 
of  her  furder  in.  But  ef  we  considers  ourselves  to 
be — as  we  be — heirs  of  etarnity 

"  Thought  I'd  got  ye  that  time!  But  neow  don't 
be  too  easy  abeout  gittin'  caught,  down  there  ! 
Priceless  gems  holds  themselves  skeerce,  ye  know." 

In  which  sarcastic  but  ever  reasonable  and  moder 
ate  conversation  with  that  coy  bucket  I  left  my 
friend,  and  continued  on  my  way  with  my  basket, 
under  Miss  Fray's  commission  to  purchase  "dangle- 
berries  "  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Spearmint. 

I  heard  as  I  approached: 

"  Oh  the  road  is  winding,  the  road  is  dark, 
But  sail  away  to  Galilee! 
Sail  away  to  Galilee!  " 


62  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

There  was  a  company  as  usual  gathered  at  Dr. 
Spearmint's  weather-beaten  hut:  the  door  wide  open, 
one  could  see  his  bed  neatly  made  by  his  own  hands 
within,  his  mother's  picture  against  the  wall, a  sweet, 
intelligent  face — like  his,  only  that  in  his  there  was 
some  light  gone  out  forever  for  this  world. 

Notely  was  there  with  Miss  Langham,  to  hear  Dr. 
Spearmint  sing,  and  to  purchase  berries,  and  to  be  en 
tertained  a  little  in  this  way  in  the  growing  evening. 

Miss  Langham  did  not  scream  on  seeing  me 
now.  She  smiled  upon  me  with  manifest  kindness 
and  condescension.  She  had  beautiful  bright  brown 
eyes,  and  the  "  style  "  of  town  life  pervaded  her  very 
atmosphere. 

"  Doctor,"  said  Notely,  "  Miss  Langham  has  heard 
about  you,  and,  ahem!  considering  what  she  has 
heard,  she  is  perfectly  willing  to  make  the  first  ad 
vances." 

Dr.  Spearmint  bowed,  stammering  before  such 
new  bewitchment  and  beauty. 

"I  look  dreadful,"  he  said,  fingering  his  blue 
necktie. 

"Oh,  dear,  no,  doctor!  "  rippled  out  Miss  Lang- 
ham's  voice,  in  willing  accompaniment  of  the  joke; 
"  I'm  sure  you  are  perfectly  charming!  " 

"  Miss  Langham  is  from  New  York,"  said  Notely. 

"There  's  a  great  deal  o'  passin'  there,  ain't 
there?  "said  Dr.  Spearmint  in  his  soft  voice,  turn 
ing  to  her. 

"  What  ?  "  said  she  to  Notely.  "  Oh,  my !  oh,  how 
funny!  oh  dear,  yes,  doctor;  you've  no  idea!" 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,   AND  LOT'S  WIFE  63 

"  Some  there  's  worth " 

Notely,  laughing,  pressed  with  his  muscular  brown 
hand  a  note  into  Dr.  Spearmint's  hand  that  would 
do  more  for  his  next  winter's  comfort  than  many 
weeks  of  dangleberrying. 

"Miss  Langham  would  like  to  have  her  fortune 
told,  doctor,"  he  said. 

She  pulled  off  her  glove  with  a  laughing  grace. 
As  Dr.  Spearmint  took  her  slender  jewelled  hand  in 
his  he  trembled  with  vanity  and  happiness.  He 
brushed  a  joyful  tear  from  his  eye,  and  began: 

"I  see  a  bew-tiful  future  here,"  he  said. 

"Oh,  my!"  said  Miss  Langham,  looking  up  at 
him,  her  mirthful  eyes  full  of  incredulous  rapture. 

"Yes,  I  see  a  tall  man,  quite  a  tall  man." 

Dr.  Spearmint  himself  was  quite  a  tall  man. 

"  Dear  me!  "  exclaimed  Miss  Langham. 

"  He  has  curly  brown  hair  and  a — a  smooth  face," 
said  Dr.  Spearmint,  delighted  in  his  delight.  Ht 
had  curly  brown  hair  and  a  smooth  face. 

"He  has  blue  eyes" — he  glanced,  a  little  trou 
bled,  at  Notely's  big  sparkling  orbs — "mild  blue 
eyes,"  he  corrected  the  statement,  in  such  a  soft 
voice! 

"Indeed  they  must  be  mild"  cried  Miss  Langham. 

Dr.  Spearmint  coughed  considerably,  and  blushed. 

"He — he  wears  a  blue  necktie,"  he  said,  the  mild 
blue  eyes  falling. 

"O  Dr.  Spearmint!  I  believe — why,  it  must  be 
you !  "  cried  the  merry  girl,  with  a  laugh  as  gay  as 
rushing  brooks. 


64  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

The  boys  and  girls  in  the  audience  laughed  loudly 
at  this  not  unexpected  climax. 

Dr.  Spearmint,  much  embarrassed,  went  inside  to 
put  away  his  money,  but  was  seen  to  steal  sly 
glances,  and  a  rearrangement  of  the  blue  neck-rib 
bon  in  his  little  cracked  mirror. 

"  Dew  come  again !  "  he  said  faintly,  as  they  were 
going. 

"Why,  certainly,  as  the  understanding  is  now, 
Miss  Langham  will  expect  to  call  often,  I  suppose," 
said  Notely. 

"Oh,  dear  me!  yes,"  cried  Grace  Langham. 

"Are  we — ahem!" — Dr.  Spearmint  could  not  lift 
those  mild  blue  eyes — "are  we  engaged?" — his 
sweet  voice  sinking,  almost  inaudible. 

"Oh,  positively,  doctor!  Why,  of  course!  Oh, 
dear  me!  good-by,  poor  dear.  Oh,  how  pathetically 
amusing!"  said  she,  walking  with  Notely  toward 
the  carriage. 

A  tall  girl  had  come  up,  and  stood  in  the  shadow, 
in  the  doorway. 

Notely,  catching  a  glimpse  of  her  in  passing, 
lifted  his  cap,  his  face  burning,  his  eyes  glowing, 
with  a  look  of  intense  love  and  of  possession. 

Grace  Langham  turned,  with  a  woman's  instinct. 

Vesty,  standing  there,  dim  and  tall,  in  her  lace- 
less,  fashionless  gown,  met  her  glance  with  a  long, 
serious  look  that  contained  nothing  either  of  alarm 
or  suspicion. 

"I  know,"  murmured  Grace.  "I've  heard  the 
name  of  'Vesty  ' — that  is  Vesty." 


COLUMBUS  AND  THE  EGG,    AND  LOT'S  WIFE  65 

"That  is  Vesty,"  said  her  companion. 

"And  you  love  her,  I  believe,"  said  Grace  Lang- 
ham  to  her  own  breast,  but  sighed  aloud;  a  gentle, 
bewitching  sigh  that  divined  deeper  of  Notely's 
mood  than  further  laughter  would  have  done  then. 

As  they  passed  out  of  sight,  riches  and  gay  things 
and  the  last  light  of  day  seemed  to  go  with  them. 

The  mirth  the  children  were  having,  congratulat 
ing  Dr.  Spearmint  on  his  engagement,  sounded  crude. 

"  Nature  has  done  so  much  for  me,  you  know,"  he 
said,  with  his  weak,  throbbing  vanity,  his  hand  ner 
vously  on  the  blue  tie. 

Vesty  went  over  to  him  and  put  both  hands  on  his 
head. 

The  children  hushed. 

"  Here  are  the  pennies  for  my  berries,  Uncle  Ben 
ny,"  she  said  quietly.  "I've  taken  just  a  quart." 

"Yes,  yes  ;  all  right,  Vesty.  I'm — ahem  ! — en 
gaged,  Vesty.  Such  a  bew-tiful " 

Vesty  held  her  hands  on  his  head.  "  Uncle  Ben 
ny  "  (she  would  never,  even  to  please  him,  call  him 
Dr.  Spearmint),  "you  must  not  think  of  that.  She 
did  not  mean  that.  Besides,  you  have  promised  to 
be  always  a  friend  to  me,  don't  you  remember? — 
and  to  lead  the  children  home  from  school.  You 
know  your  mother  expects " — they  glanced  up  to 
gether  at  the  picture — "that  you  will  do  what  Jesus 
told  you  about  doing — that  about  leading  the  little 
children  home  from  school.  What  if  one  of  them 
should  get  lost,  or  hurt?  O  Uncle  Benny!  " 

"Oh,  my!"  he  gasped.  "I  didn't  think,  Vesty," 
5 


66  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

tears  streaming  down  his  pale  but  now  placid  and 
restored  face. 

Vesty  smiled,  standing  there.  A  light  crossed  her 
face;  she  began  to  sing: 

"  The  road  is  winding,  the  road  is  dark, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee  !  " 

Her  voice  seemed  to  me,  in  that  dim  hour,  to  take 
up  Uncle  Benny  and  bear  him  away,  with  his  great 
hurt,  to  the  breast  of  his  mother,  in  heaven,  to  be 
healed. 

He  joined  her  in  the  chorus,  and  then  they  sang 
together,  she  modulating  sweetly  her  full,  rich  tones 
to  his.  Her  voice  made  heavenly  rapture  of  Uncle 
Benny's  song: 

'  There  's  a  tree  I  see  in  Paradise — 

Sail  away  to  Galilee. 
It  's  the  beautiful,  waiting  Tree  of  Life — 

Sail  away  to  Galilee, 

Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Put  on  your  long  white  robe  of  peace, 

And  sail  away  to  Galilee." 


THIS    GREATER    LOVE  67 


VI 

THIS    GREATER    LOVE 

"How  can  I  approach  the  girl  ?"  thought  Mrs. 
Garrison.  "  If  I  should  send  word  for  Vesta  Kirtland 
to  come  here  and  see  me,  Notely  would  be  sure  to 
hear  of  it;  he  would  wonder;  ask  questions.  If  I  go 
down  and  see  her  it  will  provoke  endless  comment 
and  wonder  among  those  people.  I  never  visit  them. 
There  is  no  other  way.  Notely  takes  the  Lang- 
hams  for  the  day  in  his  boat  to-morrow.  I  will  be 
driven  to  the  Basin.  I  will  ask  Vesta  indifferently, 
by  the  way,  to  go  with  me  in  those  woods  where  I 
played  in  childhood,  too  timid  now  to  walk  there 
alone.  They  will  say,  as  well  as  they  can  express 
it,  that  sentiment  must  be  getting  fashionable  ! 
Never  mind.  I  shall  see  and  talk  with  the  girl. 
We  will  see." 

Mrs.  Garrison  alighted  from  her  carriage  before 
she  reached  Vesty's  door. 

"Wait  here, "  she  said  to  her  coachman.  Vesty 
saw  her  approach.  Off  there  in  the  bay,  sublimely 
guarding  and  making  a  gateway  to  its  waters,  were 
two  little  green  mountain  peaks  of  islands,  just  a 
narrow  surge  of  the  waters  flowing  between;  the 
"Lions,"  the  "Twin  Brothers,"  they  were  called. 


68  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

One  does  not  look  off  daily,  from  one's  very  in 
fancy,  on  such  a  view  for  nothing.  Mrs.  Garrison 
saw  the  "lion"  in  Vesty's  quick-divining  eyes,  and 
was  glad. 

"Anything  but  heart-break  and  slow  consumption. 
Of  battle  I  am  not  afraid,"  she  said  to  herself. 

"  I  took  a  fancy  to  leave  my  carriage  and  walk  a 
bit  among  those  old  trees.  I  used  to  know  them 
well.  Will  you  go  with  me,  child?" 

"Certainly,  Mrs.  Garrison. "  Vesty  handed  the 
baby  which  she  was  tending  to  its  mother,  and  walked 
away  with  the  fine  lady. 

"Vesta  Kirtland,"  said  Mrs.  Garrison,  as  they  en 
tered  the  shadow  of  the  woods,  "your  face  tells  me 
plainly  that  you  know  I  have  some  object  in  asking 
you  to  walk  with  me  here.  I  have. 

"  I  am  proud,  cold,  indifferent  regarding  you  peo 
ple  here;  I  have  not  noticed  you,  hardly  even  by 
recognition,  if  we  chanced  to  meet  in  the  lanes; 
yes,  I  know.  I  bring  no  personal  claims.  But" — 
she  was  going  to  say,  "you  are  fond  of  Notely,"  but 
she  looked  at  the  girl,  and  a  proud,  sarcastic  smile 
curved  her  lips  instead — "my  son,  Notely  Garrison, 
adores  you,  I  believe?  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
care  for  him;  I  presume  not  so  ardently;  but  if  you 
were  even  a  little  fond  of  him,  for  the  sake  of  child 
hood  days  when  he  made  you  his  little  playmate — 
you  would  try  to  do  the  best  for  his  good  now — would 
you  not,  child?" 

Vesty  showed  so  few  symptoms  of  slow  consump 
tion,  and  the  lions  in  the  gateway  of  her  soul 


THIS    GREATER    LOVE  69 

glowed  so  ominously,  that  Mrs.  Garrison  concluded 
to  be  brief.  She  turned  her  face  away  a  little;  the 
operation  was  unpleasant,  and  she  took  out  the 
knife,  only  in  speech. 

"  Notely  has  quixotic  ideas  in  many  ways:  if  he 
had  given  any  ground  for  a  foolish  confidence  in  his 
boyhood  he  would  hold  to  it  now,  against  all  his 
life's  advancement,  filial  duty — yes,  even  against 
personal  inclination,  for  that  matter." 

Mrs.  Garrison  was  a  resolved  surgeon.  "  Do  you 
know  what  Notely's  prospects  are  in  life — socially, 
politically,  financially?  But  he  must  take  the  tide 
as  it  serves.  To  turn  now  is  to  lose  all.  He  has 
many  friends.  He  is  beloved  by  a  rich,  beautiful, 
accomplished  girl,  influential  in  that  sphere  where 
her  family  have  for  so  long  moved.  I  seem  cruel, 
child." 

"  Call  me  by  my  name.  Call  me  Vesty  Kirtland. 
I  hate  you!  With  my  whole  heart  and  soul  I  hate 
you! " 

So  the  bold  lions  at  the  gate,  desperately  guard 
ing  sea-depths  of  pain  behind. 

"  Really,  Vesta  Kirtland!  if  things  were  different 
I  would  rather  be  mother-in-law  to  you  than  to 
Grace  Langham.  You  are  a  pupil  worthy  of  my 
metal !  You  are  fire,  I  see.  Bravo!  " 

Vesty  stood  with  her  head  on  her  arm,  resting 
against  a  tree,  holding  herself. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  anything  more  to  say. 
Notely  will  never  seek  his  own  release.  But,  if  you 
loved  him  tmly " 


70  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"I  do!" 

Flaming  scorn  and  a  smile  as  defiant  as  Mrs. 
Garrison's  own. 

"  Do  you  ? "  said  the  surgeon.  "  Then  release 
him." 

"You  told  a  lie.  Notely  does  not  want  to  be  re 
leased.  He  loves  me,  not  Grace  Langham.  You 
know  how  it  is  with  men.  If  I  should  go  to  your 
house  and  say  to  him,  'Come  with  me;  come  down 
to  my  father's  house,  since  there  is  no  other  way, 
and  help  troll,  and  haul  the  traps,  and  make  the 
nets,  and  be  with  me,'  he  would  come! " 

"Yes,"  said  the  lady,  pale,  "  he  would  go.  There 
fore,  as  I  said,  do  you  save  him." 

"What  makes  that  life  so  much  better,  out  there, 
than  ours,  that  I  should  give  him  up  to  it,  and  break 
my  heart  and  his?  Are  you  one  that  they  make?" 

"All  people  do  not  regard  me  with  such  disfavor. " 
She  looked  at  the  girl  almost  wistfully.  "Life  is 
hard,  Vesta,  >and  exacting,  spite  of  all  that  we  can 
do;  and  the  world  is  hard  and  exacting,  supercil 
ious,  ready  to  pick  at  a  flaw — you  do  not  know." 

"Well,  I  think  Notely  will  be  happier  here  with 
me." 

Yet  one  could  see  the  girl's  pale  resolve,  only  she 
was  turning  the  knife  a  little  on  the  heartless  sur 
geon.  It  cut  sharply. 

"  For  a  month  or  two,  Vesta,  yes." 

"And  then?" 

"  One  who  has  been  accustomed  to  champagne 
from  an  ice-cooler  will  not  be  satisfied  forever  with 


THIS   GREATER    LOVE  71 

sucking  warm  spring  water  in  the  sun,  however 
wholesome." 

"Ah!" 

"He  will  grow  very  tired.  He  will  not  speak, 
but  he  will  regret." 

"Ah!  he  will  think  what  he  has  given  up;  and  it 
is  so  much,  all  in  all ;  yes,  it  is  too  much!  " 

Mrs.  Garrison  turned,  startled  at  the  girl's  voice. 
The  lions  held  the  gateway,  sad  and  gloomy.  Into 
those  heaving  depths  behind  she  should  not  enter. 

"  You  have  not  told  me  anything.  I  only  got  you 
to  say  it  over.  I  had  thought  it  all  out  for  myself. 
I  do  not  mean,  any  more,  that  Notely  shall  marry 
me." 

Mrs.  Garrison  gave  her  a  wild  glance  of  gratitude, 
of  sorrow.  In  that  instant  her  heart  yearned  in 
tensely  over  the  long-limbed  girl,  standing  so  sor 
rowful  and  proud,  and  cut  by  Fate. 

"How  will  you  manage?"  she  cried  impulsively. 
"  He  is  so  fond  of  you !  " 

"  I  can  manage.     Promise  me  one  thing?" 

"Anything  I  have." 

Vesty  smiled.  "  Promise  me,  if  Notely  should  be 
sick,  in  danger,  I  mean,  or  hurt,  unfortunate,  it  might 
be — you  would  let  me  know,  and  let  me  come  and 
care  for  him,  just  while  he  needed  care.  I  want 
you  to  promise  me!  " 

Her  voice  took  the  sharp  tone,  her  eyes  the  fren 
zy,  of  a  bird  guarding  its  young. 

"Ah,  Vesta  Kirtland,  you  did  love  him!  Oh,  I 
promise." 


72  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  If  you  did  not,  there  's  such  a  feeling  toward 
him,  different  from  the  others,  I  can't  tell ;  if  you 
did  not,  and  I  should  ever  know,  it  would  be  like  I 
had  some  little  child  of  my  own — yes,  like  I  had 
some  poor  little  baby  of  my  own,  crying  for  me,  and 
I  did  not  come — I  did  not  come!  " 

Vesty  turned.  The  tide  had  run  so  high  those 
wild  ocean  guards  were  covered  by  the  surge. 

She  led  the  way  to  the  outskirts  of  the  wood  and 
stood  aside  for  Mrs.  Garrison  to  pass.  The  woman 
would  have  drawn  near  her;  she  waved  her  hand, 
standing  aside  from  her.  Mrs.  Garrison  hesitated. 
The  sight  of  Dan  Kirtland's  low,  brown  cottage,  the 
squalid  babies  in  the  doorway,  the  fishing-nets, 
Vesty's  last  week's  cotton  gown  swinging  on  the 
line,  some  humiliating,  harsh  memories  of  her  own, 
spurred  her  on,  with  a  sigh. 

"She  is  fire,  thank  God!  It  will  be  all  right," 
she  said. 

Vesty  drew  back  into  the  woods. 

She  pressed  her  forehead  hard  against  the  rough 
bark  of  a  tree.  To  "  fall  down  there,  and  to  be 
found  and  taken  home  and  put  away  beside  her  own 
mother  in  the  little  home  lot  by  the  sea-wall — not 
to  have  to  stand  up  wearily  any  more,  and  walk 
back,  dazed  and  sick,  into  the  light  " — so  she  yearned 
— "  what  was  there  to  stand  up  for  ?  " 

A  pitiful  little  wail,  and  "Lowizy's"  weary  voice 
trying  to  sing  reached  her. 

Clouds  drifted  over  the  sky.  The  poplars  shiv 
ered;  no  voice  of  the  thrush  now  chanting  from  the 


THIS    GREATER    LOVE  73 

wood  depths;  but  the  poplars,  that  Christ's  cross  was 
made  from,  what  soft  voice  is  this  of  theirs  falling? 
"Love,  love,  love" — this  too?  sighing  with  strange 
rapture. 

Vesty  pulled  her  thick  hair  down  over  the  bruised 
place  on  her  forehead.  She  went  out  of  the  woods, 
toward  her  father's  poor  house  and  the  wailing  and 
the  feeble  singing. 

"Vesty!  Vesty!  "  one  of  the  school-children  came 
running  toward  her.  "  Lowizy  said  you  was  up  here. 
I  came  to  look  for  you.  Here  's  a  note  Jane  Pray 
sent." 

DEAR  VESTY:  You  told  me  last  meetun  you  was 
comern  up  to  sett  with  me  and  my  border  some 
evening.  Come  tonyte.  hees  a  poor  erflickted  cree- 
tur,  seems  to  me.  hees  lamer  'an  ever  an  smaller 
'an  ever  this  week,  an'  the  burth-scalds  on  his  face 
shows  more,  seems  to  me.  Ef  that  he  was  payin' 
3  dollars  a  week,  I  should  feel  easier,  bring  your 
soing  an'  sett  a  good  long  spale. 
yours  truly, 

JANE  PRAY. 

Vesty  came,  just  as  the  firelight  grew  welcome 
and  tender.  She  put  aside  her  hat  and  shawl,  un 
rolled  her  parcel  of  sewing- work,  and  sat  down  by 
the  little  lamp  at  one  end  of  the  room  with  Miss 
Pray. 

She  took  in  my  presence  naturally,  with  no  obtru 
sive  kindness;  she  was  at  a  necessitous  task — put 
ting  a  broad  gray  patch,  the  best  available  from  the 


74  VESTY  OF  THE  BASINS 

resources  at  home,  on  Jimmy  Kirtland's  brown 
jacket,  doing  it  deftly  with  her  supple  hands. 

"You'll  be  doing  that  for  some  boys  of  your  own 
by  and  by,"  said  Miss  Pray,  intending  to  have  a 
cheerful  evening. 

Vesty  grew  sweet  and  pale;  she  shook  her  head. 
Her  dark  eye-sockets  had  a  look,  I  thought,  as 
though  she  had  been  ill  and  fasting.  I  mused  in 
the  firelight. 

"  And  what  if  that  should  not  be  your  fate  indeed, 
Vesta  Kirtland:  not  bearing,  and  toil,  and  pain,  and 
all  the  heart-breaking  vicissitudes  of  woman's  life, 
but  some  peculiar  station? 

"So  tall  and  gracious,  to  go  robed  costly,  to  ride 
splendidly  accoutred  and  attended,  to  condescend 
almost  to  #//,  to  give  gracious  downward  smiles. 

"What  if  they  knew  the  power  of  wealth  and  alien 
rank,  for  that  matter,  I  held  in  that  miserable,  lean, 
little  paw  of  mine!  You  should  outshine  Grace 
Langham  as  the  sun,  Vesty.  Some  time,  if  she  were 
wronged  and  sorrowful,  could  I  point  her,  delicate 
ly,  with  all  forbearance  and  worship  of  my  own,  that 
way?" 

"  Be  you  rebellious  ? "  Unsuccessful  in  her  cheer 
ful  attempts  with  Vesty,  Jane  Pray  had  turned  to 
me. 

But  Vesty  resented  her  companion's  question,  al 
most  involuntarily  turning  to  me  with  a  quick  and 
awful  pity. 

(No;  I  had  been  lost,  dreaming:  not  that  way, 
surely;  not  though  her  heart  were  moved  with  the 


THIS   GREATER    LOVE  75 

purest  pity  angels  could  bestow;  not  thou,  Vesty, 
above  all,  sweet  one,  beautiful  one!  to  a  union  so 
unfit  and  repelling.) 

But  I  had  to  bring  my  thoughts  back  from  a  long 
way  to  answer  Miss  Fray's  question. 

"No, "I  said.  "I  settled  that  with  God  long 
ago.  It  is  all  right  between  us." 

Miss  Pray,  confused  by  Vesty's  look,  blushed 
painfully. 

"Thank  you  for  asking  me  about  it,"  I  said 
gently. 

At  that  Miss  Pray  rose.  "Come;  le's  play 
words,"  she  said. 

So  the.  girl  and  the  woman  folded  their  sewing, 
and  Miss  Pray  brought  from  some  hitherto  unknown 
recreative  source  a  little  box  of  cardboard  letters, 
and  we  sat  at  the  table  together. 

Miss  Pray  and  Vesty  thoughtfully  selected  some 
letters  and  shook  them  together  and  handed  them 
each  to  me  to  make  into  words.  I  gave  them  each 
a  word. 

The  letters  I  gave  Miss  Pray  composed  a  sim 
ple  and  striking  feature  of  the  Basin  vocabulary, 
"  w-h-a-1-e. " 

Those  I  gave  Vesty  I  studied  to  make  a  little 
more  difficult,  "  c-o-n-t-i-n-u-e. " 

Miss  Pray  gave  me  three  letters.  It  happened  as 
I  dropped  them  on  the  table  that  they  fell  of  them 
selves  into  complete  literary  sequence,  "  c-o-w. "  But 
Vesty  handed  me  eleven  shuffled  letters,  a  ladylike 
aspiration,  and  looked  at  me  with  a  little  appealing 


76  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

blush — the  Basin  school  is  so  brief,  so  limited  in  its 
curriculum. 

Miss  Pray  put  on  her  glasses  and  studied  wearily 
and  long  on  her  letters,  placing  them  every  way. 
I  saw  that  she  had  them  now  at  last,  "w-h-a-1-e," 
but  was  regarding  them  as  blankly  as  ever. 

"Pray  do  not  move  them  again,"  I  cried  hope 
fully,  finding  the  game  more  exciting  than  I  had 
anticipated.  "You  have  it,  'w-h-a-1-e,'  whale — 
see  ? " 

Miss  Pray  looked  shocked  and  dubious.  I  saw  at 
once  that  she  was  suffering  under  the  sorrowful  men 
tal  conviction  that  I  had  spelled  the  word  wrongly: 
but  that  she  was  resolved  not  again  to  wound  my 
feelings.  She  turned  to  assist  Vesty. 

"That,"  she  said  at  length,  struck  by  some  sug 
gestive  combination,  "might  be 'continnu,'  Vesty, 
ef  it  had  more  'n's  and  no  'e'." 

"Oh,"  said  Vesty,  pleased  and  enlightened. 
"But  major  knows,"  she  added  promptly,  "about 
the  spelling." 

"I  have  your  word,  you  see,  Vesty,"  I  said. 
"'S-e-p-p-e-r-a-t-i-o-n. '  ' 

I  had  it  spread  out  proudly  on  the  table.  She 
looked  at  me  and  blushed  again.  I  smiled,  only  as 
1  would  at  a  priceless  child. 

"You  are  cute  at  guessing  major,"  said  Miss  Pray 
admiringly;  but  I  saw  that  she  held  me  deficient 
in  the  classical  prearrangement  of  words,  and  that 
the  game  had  lost  interest  to  her  on  that  account. 
So  we  laid  it  by. 


THIS    GREATER    LOVE  77 

When  Vesty  rose  to  go  home,  "I  will  go  with 
you,"  I  said,  wrapping  my  sad  little  presence  in  an 
overcoat. 

Miss  Pray  looked  as  she  had  when  she  asked  me 
if  I  was  rebellious. 

But  Vesty  said  quickly:  "I  wish  you  would.  I 
am  so  afraid  in  the  dark !  " 

Afraid  in  the  dark!  Not  she;  but  this  was  some 
ointment  for  that  unconscious  thrust  Miss  Pray  had 
given. 

I  walked  home  with  her.  Coming  back,  there 
was  ever  a  slight  crackling  in  the  bushes  and 
stealthy  breathing  behind  me.  It  was  the  lad,  Jim 
my  Kirtland,  sent  by  Vesty  surreptitiously  to  see 
that  I  arrived  safely  at  Miss  Pray's. 

I  regarded  sacredly  this  innocent  device,  but,  ar 
rived  in  the  house,  I  heard  Jimmy  outside  pleading 
cautiously  to  Miss  Pray  through  the  window  that  he 
was  afraid  to  go  back  alone. 

Miss  Pray  tried  to  arouse  one  of  her  two  orphans 
— her  help:  for  answer  they  screamed  aloud,  sink 
ing  back  into  a  sleep  deep  with  snores  of  utter 
repose. 

"Sh!  sh!"  she  said.  "I'll  go  home  with  you, 
Jimmy." 

I  had  not  taken  off  my  great-coat.  I  went  out  of 
my  room  and  followed  them,  unseen.  In  sight  of 
the  Kirtland  home-light  Jimmy  ran  in,  glad.  Miss 
Pray  turned  to  face  the  darkness  alone;  she  went  a 
few  paces,  stopped,  hesitated,  and  began  to  weep 
softly. 


78  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"I  am  here  to  walk  home  with  you,  Miss  Pray,"  I 
said.  "Come;  I  can  see  very  well  in  the  dark." 

"  Thank  God !  "  said  she,  and  came  toward  me 
with  a  little  bound;  for  it  seemed  that  it  did  not 
make  any  difference  to  her  in  this  emergency  that 
I  did  not  know  how  to  spell. 


SETTIN'  ON  THE  FENCE  79 


VII 
"  SETTIN'  ON  THE  FENCE  "—THE  SHIFTY  SPECTRE 

"ADMIRAL  'S  I  SUMS-IT-UP,"  collector  of  road- 
taxes,  a  title  cheerfully  accorded  him  through  the 
genial  courtesy  of  the  Basin,  came  down  from  the 
Point. 

In  the  distance  we  could  hear  him  approaching 
as  usual,  the  passionless  monotone  of  his  voice  grow 
ing  ever  nearer  and  more  distinct,  as  he  flapped  me 
thodically  first  one  rein,  then  the  other,  over  the  un 
hurried  action  of  his  horse,  sagely  admonishing  him 
to  "G'long!  ye  old  fool!  Git  up!  ye  old  skate!" 

His  mortal  conversation,  too,  though  cutting  and 
profound,  was,  in  the  deepest  sense,  without  rancor 
or  emotion. 

" 'S  I  sums  it  up,"  said  he,  "  yer  road  down 
through  the  woods  's  gittin'  more  ridick'lous  'n 
ever. " 

"Poo!  poo!  Wouldn't  be  afraid  to  bet  ye  she 
ain't,"  said  Captain  Pharo  Kobbe,with  glowing  pipe. 

"Ye  seem  to  boast  yerselves  't  ye  don't  belong  to 
nothin'  down  here,"  continued  the  admiral;  "but 
ye  does.  Ye  belongs  to  a  shyer  town.  Ye  orter 
have  some  pride.  'S  I  sums  it  up,  be  you  goin'  to 
pay  yer  rates,  or  work  'em  out  mendin'  yer  roads? " 


8o  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  I've  noticed  pretty  darned  well  't  I  don't  belong 
to  no  town,  only  when  it  comes  to  votin'  some  on  ye 
into  offis'  up  there  and  payi.n'  taxes,"  said  one  of  the 
Basin  group — Captain  Dan  Kirtland,  Vesty's  father. 
"  I  ain't  a-goin'  to  pay  no  rates,  nor  work  'em  out  on 
no  roads  neither.  When  I  goes  I  goes  by  boat,  'n'  I 
didn't  see,  when  I  was  out  pollockin'  this  mornin', 
but  what  the  water  's  jest  as. smooth  as  she  ever 
was!  " 

A  low  murmur  of  sympathetic  laughter  ran 
through  the  group. 

"  I  goes  by  boat — when  I  goes,"  said  Captain  Lee- 
zur  benignantly.  "She  ts  smoother,  sartin  she  is. 
But  some,  ye  know,  's  never  sartisfied.  Some  neow  's 
all'as  shiftin"  a  chaw  o'  tobackker " 

"  Comparin'  of  the  road  with  the  water,"  said  Cap 
tain  Rafe,  father  of  Fluke  and  Gurdon,  "  I  permits 
it  to  ye  all  that  thar'  ain't  that  steadiness  about 
the  land  that  thar'  is  about  the  water.  Thar  's  a 
kindo'  aweavinessand  onsartainty  about  the  land." 

"  'S  I  sums  it  up,"  said  the  imperturbable  collector, 
grave  pipe  of  expired  ashes  in  mouth,  "  thar  's  some 
bottom  to  the  water,  but  it  's  purty  nigh  fell  out  o' 
yer  roads  down  here.  Ye're  a  disgrace  to  a  shyer 
town." 

Loud  and  unoffended  laughter  from  the  group. 

"  I  permits  't  thar  's  some  advantages  about  the 
land,"  continued  Captain  Rafe.  "  I  wants  ter  go  out 
and  shute  me  a  mess  o'  coots  once  in  a  while,  and 
ketch  me  a  mess  o'  brook-trout,  but  as  for  tinkerin' 
over  the  roads — why,  that  artis'  that  was  down  here 


"SETTIN'  ON  THE  FENCE"  81 

three  months  las'  summer,  paintin'  a  couple  o'  Lee- 
zur's  sheep  eatin'  rock-weed  off'n  a  nubble,  said 
't  our  roads  was  picturusque.  You  don't  suppose 
I'm  goin'  around  a-shorin'  up  and  sp'ilin'  the  pictur 
usque,  do  ye? " 

Inextinguishable  laughter  from  the  group.  At  this 
juncture  Captain  Shamgar  came  up  with  his  cows. 

"Ain't  ye  drivin'  yer  cows  home  ruther  early, 
Shamgar?  Sun  's  a-p'intin"  'bout  tew  in  the  arter- 
noon." 

"  Wai,  yes,  but  I  got  through  cuttin'  weir-stays, 
and  thought  's  the  cows  was  over  there,  I'd  take 
'em  along  home  with  me.  Save  goin'  back  arter 
'em  by  'n*  by,  ye  know." 

Captain  Shamgar  disposed  himself  on  the  fence, 
and  the  cows  fell  to  browsing  in  the  lane. 

"Got  your  road-tax  ready  for  the  adm'r'l,  Sham- 
gar?" 

"  Sartin,  sartin,"  said  that  individual,  firmly  and 
permanently  buttressing  his  cowhide  boots  between 
the  rails;  "  charge  'er  to  the  town  pump,  and  take  'er 
out  o'  the  handle!  " 

Uproarious  laughter. 

"You'd  orter  see  the  roads  in  Californy,"  said  a 
dark  spectre  with  shifty  eyes  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
group. 

"  Gold,  ain't  they,  Pershal  ? " 

"No,  no,"  said  the  spectre  modestly;  "jest  com 
mon  silver-leavin's.  Arfter  they've  made  silver 
dollars  they  scrape  up  all  the  cornder  pieces  and 
leavin's,  and  heave  'em  out  into  the  road.  They 
6 


82  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

wears  down  smooth  in  a  little  while — and  shine? 
Wai " 

"Speakin'  o'  coots,"  firmly  interposed  Captain 
Dan  Kirtland,  "onct  when  I  was  cruisin*  to  Boston, 
I  seen  a  lot  o'  coots  hangin'  up  thar'  in  the  market 
't  looked  as  though  they'd  been  hangin'  thar'  ever 
senct  before  Adam  cut  his  eye-teeth.  'How  long  be 
you  goin*  to  keep  them  coots ?' says  I.  'Coots!'  says 
he;  'them 's  converse-back  ducks. '  'Converse-back 
ducks!'  says  I;  'them  's  coots,'  says  I,  'and  they're 
gittin'  to  be  old  coots  too, '  says  I.  'You  come  from 
Maine,  I  guess,  don't  ye?'  says  he.  'Never  mind 
whether  I  come  from  Maine  or  whether  I  come  from 
Jaffy, '  says  I,  'I  come  from  sech  a  quarter  of  this 
'arth  aswhar'  coots  is  jest  coots,'  says  I." 

"Ye'd  orter  see  the  coots  in  Californy,"  wailed 
the  voice  of  the  shifty  spectre  on  the  outskirts. 

"Kind  o'  resemblin'  cows  in  size,  ain't  they, 
Pershal  ? " 

"No,  no;  the  biggest  I  ever  seen  was  the  size  o' 
Shamgar's  torn-turkey;  but  plenty?  Wai " 

"  Speakin'  o'  Jaffy,"  said  Captain  Leezur;  "  some 
body  was  tellin'  me  't  they'd  heered  how  't  Lot's 
wife — she  that  was  turned  into  a  pillar  o'  salt,  ye 
know " 

"Ye'd  orter  see  the  hunks  o'  salt  in  Californy!  " 
moaned  triumphantly  the  spectre. 

"Had got  up  and  went!"  joyfully  concluded  Cap 
tain  Leezur. 

"Wai,  now,  speakin'  o'  trout  (I  permits  that  they 
have  termenj us  trout  in  Californy,"  wisely  subjoined 


"SETTIN*    ON    THE    FENCE"  83 

Captain  Rafe),"  larst  Sunday  I  was  start  in'  for  Shad- 
der  Brook  with  my  pole  and  line,  and  I  met  this  noos- 
paper  man's  wife,  't's  boardin'  up  to  Lunette's.  She 
was  chopped  down  so  small  tow'ds  the  waist  line, 
looked  as  ef,  ef  she  sh'd  happen  to  get  ketched  in 
a  nor'wester,  she'd  go  clean  in  tew.  Didn't  bear  no 
more  resemblance  to  your  Vesty,  Dan,  than  a  hour 
glass  on  the  shelf  does  to  the  nateral  strompin'  fig- 
ger  o'  womankind  (I  permits  the  women  has  splen 
did  riggers  in  Californy). 

"'Wai,'  says  she  to  me,  and  sighs.  'I  wish  't 
there  was  a  chapel  to  this  place,'  says  she.  'I 
know,'  says  I;  'I've  all'as  said,  ef  they'd  start  'er 
up  I'd  contribbit  to  'er — 's  fur  as  my  purse  'u'd  al 
low.  ' ' 

Exhaustive  laughter  for  some  cause  from  the 
group. 

"  'Do  you  think  it 's  right  to  go  a-fishin'  Sunday?' 
says  she.  'No,  marm, '  says  I,  'not  big  fish,  but  lit 
tle  treouts?'  says  I;  'won't  you  jest  think  it  over, 
marm? '  says  I.  And  while  she  was  thinkin*  I  kind 
o'  shied  and  sidled  off,  an'  got  away  outer  the  ship's 
channel." 

"Wai,  thar'  neow,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  beaming 
with  fond  sympathy  at  the  heavens,  "  sech  folks 
dew  help  to  parss  away  the  time,  amazin'." 

"  'S  I  sums  it  up,"  said  the  impassively  listening 
collector,  "ef  ye  don't  pass  away  some  o'  yer  time 
on  yer  roads  down  here,  ye' 11  break  some  o'  yer 
d — d  necks." 

Renewed  unresentful  laughter  from  the  group. 


84  VESTV   OF    THE   BASINS 

"  Grarsshoppers,  neow,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  se 
riously  and  reflectively,  "makes  better  treoutin' 
bait  'n  angle-worms  (I  know  't  we  don't  have  no 
sech  grarsshoppers  nor  angle-worms  neither  as  they 
dew  in  Californy). 

"  Nason  was  over  t'other  day,  helpin'  me  shingle 
my  barn.  'Twas  a  dreadful  warm  day,  and  we  was 
takin'  our  noonin'  arfter  dinner,  settin'  thar'  on  the 
log,  'nd  there  was  a  lot  o'  these  'ere  little  green 
grarsshoppers  hoppin'  areound  in  the  grarss:  so 
arfter  a  spall,  we  speared  up  some  on  'em  and " 

;<  'S  I  sums  it  up,  ef  ye  want  to  stay  here  and 
ketch  the  last  fish  't  God  ever  made,  'ste'd  o'  bracin' 
up  and  mendin'  yer  roads  and  takin'  yer  part  in  a 
shyer  town,  ye  must  do  so. " 

"Sho!"  said  Captain  Leezur,  regarding  him  with 
wistful  compassion ;  "  I  hain't  seen  as  fish  was  gittin' 
skeerce. " 

By  winks  and  insinuations  of  niggardliness, 
through  Captain  Rafe,  father  of  Fluke,  he  was 
moved  to  take  a  nervine  lozenge  out  of  his  pocket 
and  display  it  temptingly  before  the  sapient,  im 
movable  countenance  of  the  collector.  The  latter, 
cold  pipe  in  mouth,  solemnly  shook  his  head. 

"They  dew  come  kind  o'  high,  I  know,"  said 
Captain  Leezur,  "but  I'm  all'as  willin*  to  sheer  'em 
with  a  friend.  I  ain't  one  o'  that  kind  that  's  all'as 
peerin'  anxiously  into  the  futur'." 

"  The  furderest  time  't  I  ever  looked  into  the  fu 
tur',"  said  Captain  Dan  Kirtland,  "was  once  when 
I  was  a  boy  'bout  nineteen,  and  my  father  told  me 


"SETTIN"  ON  THE  FENCE"  85 

not  to  take  the  colt  out.  He  was  a  stallion  colt  (I 
know  't  we  don't  have  no  sech  colts  here  as  they  do 
in  Californy),  jest  three  years  and  two  months  old, 
and  sperrited — oh,  no;  I  guess  he  wa'n't  sperrited 
none!  Wai,  my  father  was  gone  one  day,  and  I 
tackled  him  up  and  off  I  went.  Might  'a'  fetched 
up  all  right,  but  't  happened  jest  as  I  was  passin' 
by  them  smoke-houses  to  Herrinport,  some  boys  't 
was  playin'  with  a  beef's  blawder  had  hove  her  up 
onto  the  roof,  and  she  bounded  down  right  atween 
that  stallion's  ears  and  eyes.  In  jest  about  one  sec 
ond  I  looked  so  far  into  the  futur'  that  I  run  my 
nose  two  inches  into  the  'arth,  and  she  's  been  broke 
ever  since." 

"Never  mind,  Kirtland,  she  's  all  thar'.  The 
furderest  time  't  I  ever  looked  ahead,"  said  the  voice 
of  Shamgar,  "was  once  in  war  time.  Flour  fifteen 
dollars  a  barrel,  seven  girls  and  five  boys  (I  know 
't  we  don't  raise  no  sech  families  here  as  they  do 
in  Californy),  everything  high.  All  to  once  the 
thought  come  to  me,  'Mebbe  herrin'll  be  high  tew.' 
And  sure  enough  herrin'  was  high!" 

"  The  furderest  time  't  I  ever  looked  ahead " 

deliciously  began  Captain  Leezur. 

"G'long!  ye  old  fool!  Git  up!  ye  old  skate!" 
Admiral  'S  I  Sums-it-up  was  turning  his  horse 
about. 

"  I  believe  you  and  me  's  got  a  bet  on,  ain't  we, 
adm'r'l?"  said  Captain  Pharo. 

"I  told  'em  'twas  wastin'  waggin  ile  to  come 
down  here  to  c'lect.  G'long!  ye  old  fool!  Git 


86  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

up!  ye  old  skate!  'S  I  sums  it  up,  bet  ye,  goin' 
'tween  here  and  the  Point  I  could  scrape  twenty- 
five  pound  o'  mud  off  'n  yer  kerridge  time  ye  gits 
thar',  Kobbe.  G'long!  ye  old  fool!  Git  up!  ye 
old  skate!  " 

His  unbaffled  monotone  grew  gradually  faint  in 
the  distance. 

"  Roads  foall  porridge  up  there  a  piece,  I  reckon," 
chuckled  Captain  Pharo;  "but  as  long  as  Crooked 
River  runs,  I  don't  calk'late  to  lose  no  bet.  Poo! 
poo! 

3= — r- 


"Jest  give  me  time,"  beamed  Captain  Leezur, 
sounding  mellifluously,  "  'n'  I  can  row  any  Pointer 
ashore  in  an  argyment  't  ever  was  born  yit.  I  takes  a 
moderate  little  spall  to  dew  it  in.  Forced-to-go " 

"Ye  be  a  lazy,  yarn-reelin'  set,  all  on  ye,"  said 
Captain  Rafe,  grinning  with  affection  and  delight  on 
the  group.  "I'm  going  to  have  ye  all  posted  and 
put  on  the  teown!  " 

Murmurs  of  rich  and  deep  laughter. 

A  tall,  dark  form,  shifty-eyed,  had  been  insensibly 
moving  and  disintegrating  me  from  the  group.  I 
found  myself  drifting  strangely  ever  farther  and 
farther  away.  I  was  sitting  beside  him  on  a  rock 
in  the  covert  of  the  woods,  the  sun  setting  over  the 
bay,  and  all  was  still  save  his  voice. 

"I  went  to  Californy  minding"  (mining),  said  he. 
"She  ain't  nothin'  so  wonderful  of  a  State  as  you 


"SETTIN'    ON    THE    FENCE*'  87 

might  think:  she  ain't  no  bigger  'n  Maine  'n*  New 
York  and  Alabamy,  'n'  Afriky  'n'  Bar  Harbor  all  put 
into  one! " 

"Great  heavens!"  said  I,  scratching  my  feeble 
little  cane  into  the  earth,  "  is  she  that?" 

Of  all  that  had  been  denied  him  in  the  recent 
general  conversation,  of  colossal  hunks  of  salt,  of 
grasshoppers  "no  larger  than  Dorking  hens,"  of 
fishes,  women,  horses  fabulous,  I  listened,  rapt  with 
wonder  and  admiration. 

The  sun  went  down,  the  moon  arose,  and  still  I 
listened.  I  was  not  weary,  I  was  not  hungry;  I 
was  absorbed  in  sincere  and  awful  attention.  But 
the  world  is  callous  and  cold,  and  I  shall  not  repeat 
those  tales. 

The  world  is  callous  and  cold;  but,  as  the  shifty 
spectre  at  last  pointed  me,  unwilling,  homeward,  he 
murmured,  with  tears  in  his  eyes:  "I  never  found 
sech  an  intellergent  listener  as  you  be — not  in  the 
whole  length  and  breadth  of  Californy." 


88  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


VIII 

"VESTY   'S    MARRIED" 

"VESTY  's  married  Gurd!  Vesty  's  gone  and  got 
married  to  Gurd!  "  said  the  children,  big  and  joyful 
with  news,  on  their  way  to  school. 

Yes,  that  was  what  she  had  done!  I  leaned  heav 
ily  for  a  moment  where  I  stood.  That  was  Vesty! 

Oh,  child-madness!  Sweet,  lost  child!  Oh,  pity 
of  the  world!  and  I  crawling  on  with  such  a  hurt; 
I  did  not  think  that  should  have  wrung  me  so. 

I  was  getting  near  her  door;  not  anywhere  else 
could  I  have  gone.  She  would  be  at  the  Rafes'  cot 
tage  now — so  easily  do  the  Basin  brides  move, 
without  wedding  journey  or  trousseau. 

The  wash-tubs  and  cooking-stove  stood  at  one  end 
of  the  long,  low-raftered  room,  the  cabinet  organ 
and  violins  at  the  other.  Captain  Rafe  and  the 
boys  were  out,  hauling  their  sea-traps,  and  Vesty 
had  been  doing  the  washing  that  they  were  wont  to 
do  for  themselves;  the  mother,  like  her  own,  being 
dead. 

The  room  was  nice  as  I  had  never  seen  it  before, 
and  Vesty  was  putting  some  pitiful  little  ornaments 
to  rights  at  the  cabinet-organ  end. 

She  turned  to  me  with  so  strange  and  febrile  a 


U  VESTY    *S   MARRIED  "  89 

look,  yet  with  so  wild  and  startled  a  welcome  in  her 
eyes. 

"Hush!"  I  said.  "You  wanted  me,  child;  I  am 
here." 

I  saw  that  she  had  turned  to  lean  against  the 
organ,  and  that  she  was  shaken  with  sobs. 

"  What  have  you  done,  Vesty  ?  Wicked  and  false 
beyond  any  woman  I  know — you  !  " 

"  Have  you  seen  him  ? "  she  sobbed. 

"  No,  I  have  not  seen  Notely.  You  were  married 
only  last  night." 

"  I  wrote  to  him.  There  was  only  one  way  to 
save  Notely  from  marrying  me — only  one  way." 

"You  might  have  waited." 

"  Notely  would  never  have  waited.  Notely  meant 
to  marry  me." 

"You  should  have  married  him,  and  not  been 
false." 

"  I  would  rather  be  false  than  ruin  Notely." 

"You  thought  that  it  would  ruin  him?  You  had 
some  assistance  in  that  belief ;  his  lady  mother  came 
to  see  you ;  the  property  is  hers.  If  he  transgresses, 
no  property,  no  wealthy  Grace  Langham,  no  easy 
glory  at  the  bar  or  in  the  state.  What  were  those  to 
your  love,  Vesty  ?  " 

She  looked  up,  dim,  and  shook  her  head. 

"You  have  done  a  wilful,  blind,  impetuous  thing. 
You  were  piqued,  proud,  angry,  and  so  you  gave 
yourself,  body  and  soul,  to  this  mad  leap." 

"  I  don't  care  for  my  body  (sob)  or  soul  (sob) 
if  Notely  isn't  sick." 


90  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  There  is  One  who  is  above  Notely,  to  punish  as 
well  as  to  pity,  Vesty. " 

"  God" — very  softly — "  oh,  yes!  "  The  bewildered, 
grief-tormented  eyes  looked  faith  into  mine.  "  I 
didn't  mean  that.  I  asked  Him.  I  could  only  find 
one  way.  He  won't  let  Notely  come  to  harm,  but 
help  him  to  make  the  best  of  himself." 

"  Your  lover  is  a  brave  man.  He  would  not  have 
been  selfish  toward  you  as  this  great  hulk,  Gurdon. 
He  knew  you  intelligently.  He  would  have  lifted, 
considered,  cared  for  you." 

Vesty  held  herself  aloft,  pale.  "  Gurdon  is  good. 
If  any  one  ever  asked  Gurd  for  anything  he  always 
gave  it  to  them." 

I  leaned  my  head  on  my  hand,  my  heart  leaping. 

Vesty  came  near  me.  "  Tell  me  that  you  do  not 
think  it  is  a  great  mistake — such  a  great — a  lost — 
mistake;  for  Notely's  sake,  tell  me!  I  looked  so 
for  you  to  come.  I  wanted  you." 

To  have  touched  one  thread  of  her  dark  hair, 
bowed  there  before  me!  I  did  not  touch  her. 

"Ah,  the  mistake!"  I  said;  "ah,  the  pity  of  it! 
You  do  not  tell  me  how  you  have  suffered,  Vesty; 
how  your  own  heart  has  been  torn. " 

She  took  my  hand,  and,  turning  her  head,  pushed 
it  gently  away  from  her,  as  some  blind  instrument 
of  torture. 

"  The  last  time  I  heard  you  sing,  Vesty,  you  put 
your  hands  on  Uncle  Benny's  poor,  confused  head 
and  soothed  and  guided  him.  Who  was  there  to  help 
or  guide  you,  motherless  child,  confused  and  lost?" 


VESTY      S    MARRIED  9! 

"  Could  you  have  seen  the  way  ? "  How  she  en 
treated  me! 

"  No  one  sees  the  way.  But  a  broken  heart  and 
a  life — misguided  and  lost  though  it  be — given" 

She  looked  up,  dim,  again. 

"  You  will  make  them  happy  here,"  I  added.  Ah, 
that  she  understood!  She  looked  about  the  room 
with  a  sad,  brave  pride,  and  rose  and  stood  again,  a 
striking  picture  there. 

"They  did  need  me,"  she  said;  "he  needed  me 
more  than  Notely.  And  I  shall  get  time,  besides, 
to  go  over  to  father's  and  help  with  the  children." 

I  nodded.  "Oh,  it  is  bravely  done,"  I  said. 
"We  shall  get  on."  For  she  was  worn  from  her 
long  mental  struggle,  and  nearly  wild  in  those  dark- 
circled  eyes.  "There  will  be  no  more  feathers  in 
Captain  Rafe's  cake.  Did  I  tell  you?  He  and  the 
boys  invited  me  here  to  tea.  They  had  been  dress 
ing  birds  and  baking  in  the  same  morning.  The 
plum  cake  was  full  of  feathers,  Vesty." 

She  laughed,  and  looked  at  me  with  shocked  grat 
itude  because  I  had  made  her  laugh. 

"  Not  chopped  or  sugared  feathers,  Vesty,  but 
whole  winged  feathers  of  the  natural  flavor." 

"  Oh !  "  she  said,  "  shouldn't  you  think  they  needed 
me?" 

"Infinitely." 

"  Wait.  Won't  you  come — come  and  see  me  often  ? 
Come  evenings  and  hear  the  boys  play — they  can 
play! — and  tell  me" — her  hands  trembled — "tell  me 
about  Notely!"  Her  soul  bare  in  her  uplifted  eyes. 


92  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Only  to  one  as  a  wraith,  a  shadow,  out  of  the  ordi 
nary  pale  of  humanity,  could  she  have  looked  like 
that! 

"Always,  whatever  I  hear  or  know,"  I  answered 
her.  "Gurdonwill  not  be  jealous  of  me. "  I  smiled 
at  her. 

She  smiled  back  in  her  dim  way.  "  Jealous?  "  she 
said.  "What!  after  we  are  married ?" 

"Ay,  surely!  The  Basins  are  true  to  each  other 
then  always." 

"  That  is  the  way,"  she  said. 

"That  is  the  way,"  I  said,  and  left  her. 

When  Notely  Garrison  received"  the  letter  that 
Vesty  had  written  him  he  read  at  the  end  :  "  When 
you  get  this  I  shall  be  married;  "  and  the  "  for  love 
of  you,  Notely,  God  knows  that!  You  must  make 
the  most  of  all  He  gives  you."  Notely  seemed  to  see 
her  eyes. 

Then  he  lost  them  and  went  down  into  a  mental 
gulf.  He  locked  himself  in  his  room,  to  be  ever 
alone;  thoughts  came  to  him  that  he  could  not  bear: 
he  rose  and  filled  a  glass  twice  with  brandy  and 
drained  it.  He  ran  his  hand  through  the  tumbled 
light  hair  that  Vesty  had  so  loved,  and  reeled  out  of 
the  room  with  a  laugh  on  his  lips  and  a  flush  on 
his  face. 

"  Mother,  I  have  lost  my  girl !  " 

"O  Notely!  however  mistaken  I  have  been,  what 
have  I  loved,  whom  have  I  loved  in  all  this  world 
but  you,  my  child?  Do  not  break  my  heart!  " 


VESTY      S    MARRIED  93 

"  No,  no,  mother ! "  said  Notely,  going  and  standing 
beside  her;  "  I  am  your  natural — natural — protector." 

As  he  stood  thus,  looking  out  with  his  drunken 
yet  bright  and  tender  eyes,  the  child  of  her  breast 
whom  she  had  robbed,  she  laid  her  head  on  his 
shoulder  and  began  to  cry.  "Why,  mother!"  he 
said,  almost  sobered  for  the  instant.  Never  had 
this  son  seen  this  mother  weep.  He  led  her  to  a 
lounge. 

"I  think,"  he  said,  struggling  for  thought  very 
seriously;  he  racked  his  stormy,  fuddled  brain  for 
what  would  most  please  her.  "  Now,  when  shall  we 
have  a  wedding,  mother?  Grace — Grace  Langham." 

"O  Notely!"  She  tried  to  detain  him  with  her 
hand. 

"Fll  go — go  ask  her,"  he  said.  He  passed  out 
with  an  easy  exaggeration  of  his  usual  lordly  air, 
debonair  and  high,  and  at  the  same  time  genial. 

Grace  was  alone  in  the  arbor,  in  her  favorite  ham 
mock,  with  a  book,  when  Notely  came  up. 

The  look  she  gave  him  was  full  of  amusement  and 
anger  and  disgust. 

These  qualities  somehow  attracted  him  now.  He 
was  a  gentleman;  he  tried  to  hold  himself  very  erect 
against  the  trellis,  and  put  the  question  delicately. 

"  Light — light — light  of  my  soul !  "  he  said. 

Grace  threw  down  her  book  and  screamed.  Then 
she  put  her  hands  over  her  face  and  fell  to  crying. 

Notely  took  out  his  handkerchief  and  wiped  his 
own  eyes  with  the  choicest  deliberation  of  sympathy. 

"All — all  seem  to  be  weeping  to-day,"  he  said. 


94  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Oh,  you  wretch!  you  brute!  you  brute!"  cried 
Grace. 

Notely,  though  much  flattered,  continued  diplo 
matically  mopping  his  eyes. 

At  length  he  desisted;  and  Grace,  looking  out  and 
seeing  his  keen,  handsome  profile  staring  out  so  des 
olately,  came  down  from  the  hammock. 

She  shivered  a  little;  drunken  men  were  horrid, 
even  dangerous.  But  Notely!  She  came  up  hero 
ically  and  put  her  hand  on  his  sleeve. 

"  There  is  one  condition,  Notely,  on  which  I  can — 
consider  your  proposal." 

"Name,"  said  Notely,  with  touching  legal  preci 
sion,  "condition  on  which  you'll  marry  me." 

"  You  must  never,  never  drink  like  this  again.  I 
did  not  know  that  you  ever  did  this.  Oh,  how  it 
has  hurt  me!"  The  lace  fell  back  from  her  white 
arms,  there  was  a  perfume  of  flowers  about  her; 
bright  brown  eyes  are  lovelier  when  suffused  with 
tears. 

"Thanks!"  said  Notely,  meaning  to  come  up 
to  the  full  measure  of  the  occasion.  "I'm  not — 
not  worthy.  No — no — no  previous  engagement, 
how'ver." 

But  he  was  so  gentle,  she  took  his  arm  and  led  him 
in.  Mrs.  Langham,  who  always  spoiled  him,  en 
tering  stately  in  silk  and  gems,  engaged  him  in  a 
game  of  cribbage,  humoring  gravely  all  his  startling 
and  original  vagaries  in  the  game. 

"What  does  it  mean?"  cried  Grace  to  Mrs.  Garri 
son, 


VESTY      S    MARRIED  95 

"It  was  an  accident,  not  an  excess,  my  child," 
said  the  mother,  smiling  proudly.  "It  should  never 
be  mentioned  in  connection  with  my  son;  it  is  no 
part  of  him." 

Mrs.  Garrison  was  strangely  assured  in  her  own 
heart  that  Vesty  Kirtland  would  never  tell  the  son 
of  his  mother's  visit  to  her.  She  did  not  mean  that 
Grace  Langham  should  ever  know  the  full  cause 
that  had  unsettled  him. 

"We  must  be  very  tender  with  him,  keep  near  to 
him,"  she  said,  "or,  when  he  recovers,  he  may  do 
himself  harm,  with  remorse,  and — the  fear  of  losing 
your  love,  Grace." 

They  were  very  tender  with  him.  And  by  good 
chance,  too,  the  post  brought  a  famed  "Review," 
copying  entire  the  brilliant  fellow's  essay  on 
"American  Politics,"  with  the  editor's  comment  of 
"masterly." 

"  See !  "  screamed  Grace ;  "  it  says  'masterly. ' ' 

"Of  course  it  's  mast — mast — masterly,"  said 
Notely,  his  beautiful  eyes  burning. 

They  drove  with  him,  the  stout  coachman  perched 
for  safety  on  the  seat  beside  him.  At  evening  he 
tried  to  catch  Grace  in  the  arbor  and  kiss  her.  She 
screamed  and  escaped. 

"Come,  dearest!  "  said  his  mother.  She  left  the 
door  wide  between  his  sleeping-room  and  hers,  and 
laid  the  triumphant  review  at  his  hand  for  his  wak 
ing  in  the  morning. 

But  on  the  morrow  he  was  neither  remorseful  nor 
subdued,  though  his  eyes  were  hollow.  He  smoked 


96  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

a  great  deal,  and  sang  melancholy,  unembarrassed 
snatches  of  song,  after  the  manner  of  Captain  Pharo, 
and  made  love  to  Grace,  who  was  beautiful. 

At  evening  he  tucked  his  violin  under  his  arm. 
"I  am  going  down  to  call  on  the  new  Basin  bride," 
he  said,  with  airy,  cheerful  contempt  for  that  class. 

His  mother  paled.  He  went  up  to  her  and  kissed 
her.  "Do  not  fear,  mother,"  he  whispered. 

The  boys  welcomed  him  somewhat  eagerly.  He  had 
been  their  teacher  on  the  violin,  as  well  as  the  origi 
nal  donor  of  those  beloved  instruments.  And  they 
had  thought  he  might  not  come  to  that  house  again. 

"I've  a  new  tune.for  you,  boys,"  he  said.  Vesty 
came  in.  He  rose  and  bowed,  taking  her  hand.  "  I 
congratulate  the  new  bride!"  He  would  not  look 
at  her  pallor  or  her  great  beseeching  eyes. 

"  I've  this  to  show  you,  boys,  that  I've  been  prac 
tising  to-day."  He  had  not  touched  the  strings  for 
forty-eight  hours!  There  was  a  covert  smile,  sad, 
playful,  not  malicious,  on  his  face  as  his  hands 
touched  them  now. 

Where  he  had  been  "practising"  indeed!  From 
what  source  he  had  got  that  music  that  he  played  for 
them  now!  He  would  never  play  the  like  again. 

"Bah!  "  said  he,  at  the  close,  with  his  old  cheerful 
manner;  "  it  is  too  sad !  When  one  is  possessed  only 
for  minor  strains  better  cease  fiddling.  Do  you 
want  me  to  break  this,  or  throw  it  into  the  fire  when 
I  get  home,  Gurdon?  Then  take  her,  lad!  She  's  a 
fine  one,  finer  than  yours.  Take  her  in  all  good 
faith.  Come!" 


VESTY      S    MARRIED  97 

Gurdon  reached  out  his  hand,  hesitating,  voice 
less  pity  in  his  honest  eyes. 

Notely  sat  and  listened  to  the  others;  applauded 
in  the  old  way.  "You  are  beyond  my  teaching, 
lads,"  he  said — and  they  played  exquisitely.  "You 
excel  your  master  now.  Well,  well,  my  mellow  old 
fiddle  is  better  here  with  you."  But  he  would  never 
once  look  at  Vesty,  so  pale  and  beseeching. 

As  he  passed  out  Vesty  started  impulsively,  then 
looked  at  her  husband. 

"Go  and  speak  to  him,  Vesty,"  said  Gurdon. 
"  Maybe  he  wanted  to  speak  with  you  a  moment." 

Vesty  stepped  out  into  the  dark,  and  she  called, 
almost  in  a  breathless  voice:  "  Notely!  " 

"  Ah !  "     He  came  back. 

She  held  out  her  hands  to  him.  "  Forgive  me, 
Notely!  I  meant  it  for  your — I  meant " 

He  took  her  hands  firmly  in  his  and  pressed  his 
lips  down  to  hers.  "  My  wife!  "  he  said,  slowly  and 
solemnly;  "my  wife!"  and  dropped  her  hands  and 
left  her. 

She  stepped  back  through  the  doorway,  sobbing. 

"  Was  he  angry  with  you,  Vesty  ? "  her  husband 
said. 

"No!  no!" 

"  Did  he  say  as  he  was  still  fond  of  you,  or  any 
thing  like  that?"  said  the  bold  brother  Fluke. 

"Nay!  nay!"  said  Gurdon.  " Vesty 's  married 
now:  nor  Vesty  nor  he  would  ever  have  word  like 
that." 

7 


98  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


IX 
THE  TALE  OF  CAPTAIN  LEEZUR'S  SLY  COURTSHIP 

IT  has  not  been  a  seven  months,  surely,  since  I 
heard  the  roar  of  those  waters  down  in  the  Basin's 
Greater  Bay ! 

Captain  Leezur  has  not  been  housed  through  icy 
snow-fall  and  winter  blast! — nay,  he  has  been  ever 
there,  as  when  I  left  him  sitting  on  the  log,  beaming, 
tranquil  heir  of  eternity. 

"Ilein'  my  saw,  ye  see, "said  he,  springing  up  and 
grasping  my  hand ;  "  ef  I  remembers  right,  I  was  set- 
tin'  here  ilein'  my  saw,  when  ye  come  and  bid  me 
good-by  ? " 

"You  were." 

"And  here  I  be,  right  in  the  same  place,  ilein'  of 
'er  ag'in!"  he  cried,  struck  with  joyful  surprise  at 
such  a  phenomena  of  coincidence.  "  Set  deown ! 
why,  sartin  ye  must!  I  carn't  let  ye  go." 

Oh,  the  taste,  sweeter  than  ancient  wine,  of  that 
nervine  lozenge  once  more!  The  time  was  weary 
while  I  was  away.  Now  that  I  am  back  again,  it 
seems  as  nothing. 

"Some  neow  's  all'as  runnin'  their  saw  right 
through  everything  no  marter  heow  hard  she  wrars- 
tles  and  complains  ag'in'  it.  But  when  mine  gives 


CAPTAIN    LEEZUR  S    SLY    COURTSHIP  99 

the  first  squeak,  I  sets  right  deown  with  'er  and  ex 
amines  of  'er,  and  then  I  takes  a  swab-cloth  and  I 
swabs  her.  Forced-to-go — 'specially  ef  she  ain't 
iled — never  gits  far,  ye  know." 

O  delicious  sound  of  uncorrupted  philosophy 
once  more! 

Mrs.  Leezur  came  out  to  welcome  me,  and  sat  on 
the  doorstep  near.  She  was  chopping  salt  codfish  in 
a  tray  for  dinner.  When  her  knife  struck  a  bone, 
she  put  on  her  glasses,  and  after  deliberate  and 
kindly  research  extracted  it. 

"  Did  ye  hear  anything  from  Jaffy  ? "  said  the  mel 
low,  glad  voice  of  Captain  Leezur. 

''I'm  inclined  to  think  what  you  heard  was  true, 
captain.  It  seems  to  be  confirmed  from  every 
source;  she  is  gone." 

"  Thar'  neow !  I  told  'em  't  you'd  make  inquiries. 
I  could  see,  says  I,  when  I  was  talkin'  to  him 
'beout  it,  't  he'd  got  waked  up  to  more  'n  common 
interest  in  the  subjec'.  Wai,  I'm  glad  on  't;  she'd 
sot  there  so  long  neow — didn't  ye  hit  a  bone  then, 
mother?  Seounded  kind  o'  as  though  ye  struck  a 
bone,  but  mebbe  'twas  only  the  bottom  o'  the 
tray." 

"We've  been  threatenin'  to  clean  dooryard,"  said 
Mrs.  Leezur,  looking  about  on  a  scene  that  demanded 
no  more  particular  explanation. 

"  Thar'  's  three  times,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  "  that 
I've  had  them  bresh  'n'  things  all  hove  up  into  piles, 
'n'  every  time  the  wind  's  raked  in  and  swep'  'em 
areound  all  over  the  farmimunt  ag'in." 


100  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Perhaps,  father,"  said  Mrs.  Leezur,  in  a  mildly 
suggestive  tone,  as  far  from  sarcasm  as  heaven  is 
from  earth;  "perhaps,  if  't  when  you'd  got  'em  up 
in  piles,  you'd  keeried  of  'em  off,  they  wouldn't  'a' 
got  swep'  areound  ag'in." 

"Wai,  I  don*  know  's  they  would,  mother;  but 
it  's  been  a  dreadful  busy  time  o'  year,  ye  know," 
said  Captain  Leezur,  mellifluously.  "  Didn't  ye 
strike  a  bone  then,  mother?  Seounded  's  though  ye 
run  afoul  of  a  bone,  but  mebbe,  arfter  all,  'twas  only 
the  bottom  o'  the  tray." 

"I  like  the  yard,"  I  said.  "I  wouldn't  like  to 
miss  those — things." 

"I  guess  you're  kind  o'  like  that  artis'  that  was 
here,  't  was  so  keeried  away  with  the  picturusque. 
He  run  afeoul  o'  a  couple  o'  old  sheep  o'  mine 
up  on  the  headlan's  somewheres,  an'  spent  a  'tarnal 
three  months  a-paintin'  of  'em  deown  onto  some 
canvarss.  I  told  'im,  says  I,  'Thar'!'  says  I,  'I'm 
glad  to  see  them  sheep  put  somewheres  't  they'll 
stay,'  says  I.  'It'll  be  the  first  time  in  existence  't 
they  hain't  broke  fence, '  says  I.  'I'm  r'a'ly  obleeged 
to  ye.  I  hain't  seen  the  livin'  presence  o'  them 
sheep  senct  I  don't  know  when,'  says  I.  'I've  been 
a-threatenin'  these  tew  years  t'  go  and  hunt  em  up, 
but  the  glimpst  I've  had  o'  'em  in  this  'ere  pictur'll 
dew  jest  as  well,'  says  I;  'fur  's  I  can  see,  they  look 
promisin',  an'  gettin'  better  points  'n  ever  for  light 
weight  jumpers,'  says  I Sartin  ye  hit  a  bone 

then,  mother!     Thar'!      I  told  ye  so.      Heave  'er 
eout.     I  knowed  't  you'd  fotch  'er,  mother.     Did  I 


CAPTAIN  LEEZUR'S  SLY  COURTSHIP          101 

ever  tell  ye,"  said  Captain  Leezur  to  me,  "  heow  sly 
I  was  when  I  went  a-courtin'  ?  " 

"No,"  said  I.  Mother  Leezur's  face  was  modest, 
yet  all  beautifully  alight. 

"Wai  neow,"  said  Captain  Leezur  seriously,  "my 
experience  has  been,  there  ain't  nothin'  so  onpleas- 
ant,  when  ye're  eatin'  picked-up  codfish,  's  to  feel 
the  rufe  o'  yer  mouth  all  runnin*  in  afeoul  along  o' 
a  mess  o'  bones. 

"  So  't  when  it  got  at  an  age  and  a  time  't  I  was 
goin*  courtin',  I  was  jest  as  sly  abeout  it  as  could 
be,  'nd  I  never  let  on  nothin'  o'  what  port  in  per- 
tick'lar  I  was  steerin'  for. 

"  So  't  I  was  up  settin'  a  spall  with  Tryphosy 
Rogers — she  't  was;  'nd  says  she,  'Neow  what  shall 
I  get  for  tea,  Leezur? '  (The  gals  all  made  a  great 
deal  on  me  in  them  days.)  'They  ain't  nothin'  I 
likes  so  well,'  says  I,  'as  a  mess  o'  codfish  mixed  up 
along  o'  eggs  and  thickenin'. '  Wai,  she  flew  'reound 
'nd  got  supper,  'nd  we  sot  deown  together — and  I 
swan!  ef  that  'ar  mess  o'  codfish  't  Tryphosy  heaped 
onto  my  plate  wa'n't  worse  tangled  up  with  bones 
'n  the  maze  o'  human  destiny. 

"Wai,  I  knew  't  Tryphosy  had  bo's  enough;  'nd 
all  ain't  so  pertick'lar  abeout  codfish,  ye  know,  as 
some  be.  So  't  I  didn't  trouble  'er  to  get  up  no 
more  teas  for  me. 

"  'Nd  still  I  kep'  sly:  they  hadn't  nobody  the 
least  idee  o'  what  port  I  was  steerin'  for.  I  tried 
four  or  five  jest  in  the  same  way,  but  they  hadn't 
moderation  enough  o'  dispersition,  ye  see,  to  set 


102  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

deown  beforehand  and  have  a  calm  previous  wrarst- 
lin'  o'  the  spirit  along  o'  them  codfish  bones. 

"  Wai,  Leony  Rogers — she  't  was — cousin  to  Try- 
phosy — she  was  called  the  harndsomest  gal  in  them 
parts,  'nd  I  had  considerable  hopes.  So  't  when  she 
asts  me,  'Neow  what'll  ye  have  for  tea,  Leezur?' — 
'They  ain't  nothin'  I  likes  so  well,'  says  I,  '  's  a 
mess  o'  codfish  mixed  up  along  o'  eggs  and  thick- 
enin'.' 

"Wai,  we  sot  deown  together,  'nd  she  was  sopurty 
I  stowed  away  a  mouthful,  hardly  thinkin' — 'nd  I 
run  one  o'  these  here  main  off-shutes  from  the  back 
bone  of  a  ten-pound  cod,  abeout  tew  inches  up  into 
the  shrouds  'n'  riggin'  o'  my  left-hand  upper  jaw. 

"  I  was  in  sech  a  desp'rit  agerny  to  git  home  that 
night  I  got  onto  Leony's  father's  old  white  mar',  't 
was  feedin'  along  by  the  road,  an'  puttin'  of  'er 
deown  the  hill,  I'm  dumed  ef  she  didn't  stumble  and 
hove  me  clean  over  her  bows " 

"Father!" 

"Wai,  mother?" 

"Ye  swore,  father!" 

"  Wai,  thar* !  mebbe  I  did,  mother.  But  ye  know 
when  I  jined  the  church  forty  year  ago,  there  was  a 
kind  o'  takkit  agreement  atween  Parson  Roe  'n'  me  't 
I  could  sweer  when  I  was  tellin'  that  pertick'lar  story. 

"  Wai,  the  rute  o'  the  matter  was,  't  as  soon  's  I 
was  healed  up  inter  some  shape  ag'in,  I  went  and 
see  Phoeby  Hamlin — she  't  was." 

No  need  for  personal  explanation.  Captain  Lee 
zur 's  tone!  Mother  Leezur 's  softly  shrouded  eyes! 


CAPTAIN    LEEZUR  S   SLY    COURTSHIP  103 

"'What'll  ye  have  for  tea,  Leezur?'  says  she. 
'They  ain't  nothin'  I  likes  so  well,'  says  I,  "s  a 
mess  o'  codfish  mixed  up  along  o'  eggs  and  thick- 
enin'.'  Wai,  Phoeby,  she  went  eout,  and  she  was 
gone  a  long  time — looked  kind  o'  's  though  I  was 
gittin'  into  port. 

"  'Nd  thar  I  sot  and  sot;  'nd  every  minute  't  I 
sot  there  I  was  gittin'  surer  somehow  't  I  was  sight- 
in'  land.  By  'n'  by,  Phoeby,  she  comes  in,  and 
we  sot  deown  together,  'nd  I  kep'  takin'  one  help 
arfter  another;  for  arfter  what  I'd  been  through  1 
was  goin'  to  make  sure  whether  I'd  got  inter  safe 
harbor  or  not.  But  deown  she  all  went,  slick  as 
ile,  an"  nary  bone  nor  sign  o'  bone  anywheres. 

"'Phoeby,'  says  I,  'ye've  wrarstled,  and  ye've 
conquered!'  'What  on  'arth  d'ye  mean,  Leezur?' 
says  she.  For  figgeral  language,  ye  know,  requires 
a  very  moderate  dispersition;  and  women,  even  the 
moderatest  on  'em,  haves  tew  quick  perceptions  for 
t'  be  entertained  long  with  figgeral  language." 


104  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY'S  YACHT 

"WHY  did  you  never  come?     I  sent  for  you." 

"  I  was  afraid,  Vesty,  that  new  burden  of  mother 
hood,  which  you  carried,  might  take  some  physical 
mark  or  blight  from  a  presence  like  mine.  But  he  is 
beautiful ! " 

He  lay  upon  her  arm,  and  he  was  beautiful,  full 
fed  from  her  breasts,  formed  large  and  fair,  his  hair 
already  waved  as  by  a  court  barber !  Her  eyes  rested 
on  him.  Would  all  the  weak  and  miserable  of  the 
world  be  well-nigh  forgotten  now?  She  raised  them 
to  me  again — Basin  eyes — all  the  weak  and  miser 
able  of  the  world  were  dearer. 

"He  looks  that  proud  way,"  she  laughed,  "when 
the  boys  play  him  to  sleep;  they  played  him  to  sleep 
again  before  they  went  to  their  traps  this  morning. 
They  used  to  play  me  to  sleep,  before  baby  came. 
I  used  to  think  of  so  many  things.  I  wanted  to  see 
you." 

Things  cannot  ever  be  thought  out,  after  all, 
Vesty;  but  if  the  boys  can  play  one  to  sleep — well, 
that  is  best." 

She  took  my  hand;  the  tenderness  in  her  eyes  cov 
ered  their  pity.  I  felt  no  sting.  "  I  feel  safe  when 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY  S  YACHT        105 

you  will  come  sometimes/'  she  said;  "you  are  so 
strong — so  strong!  "  She  touched  my  hand  admon- 
ishingly;  it  was  as  though  she  lifted  me. 

"I  misjudged  your  husband,  Vesty;  rather,  I  did 
not  know  him.  He  is  a  good  lad,  this  Gurdon." 

"Oh,  he  is!"  A  dream  swept  over  her  face,  as 
dreams  will;  the  mad  birds  whistling  "  love"  down 
by  the  sea-wall,  the  gay  waters  flashing — Notely 
Garrison. 

"And  so  the  father  plays  him  to  sleep?  Many  a 
duke  would  give  half  his  possessions  for  a  boy  like 
that!" 

She  buried  her  face  rapturously  beside  him  for  a 
moment,  then  turned  to  me  calmly: 

"What  do  you  know  of  Notely?"  she  said. 

"  Only  what  rumor  knows,  what  may  have  been 
told  you.  His  wife  found  no  enduring  attractions 
in  this  locality,  you  know:  they  have  built  a  sum 
mer  place  at  Bar  Harbor;  his  wife  and  his  mother 
and  Mrs.  Langham,  it  is  said,  are  all  devoted  to  his 
happiness.  He  has  a  fine  yacht  now,  and  is  some 
times  seen  skipping  by  off  shore.  He  is  gifted  in 
address  and  with  the  pen.  His  name  is  seen  often. " 

Vesty  listened  hungrily. 

"  Have  you  seen  him  ?     Is  he  happy  ?  " 

"  I  saw  him  only  as  he  was  passing  me,  with  some 
of  his  companions;  they  had  come  ashore  to  see  the 
old  Garrison  place.  He  looked  very  happy." 

"Then  I  am  glad!"  said  Vesty  of  the  Basins, 
clasping  her  hands.  I  looked  at  her;  if  he  was 
happy  she  was  utterly  glad. 


lod  VESTY   OP    THE    BASINS 

"He  will  be  a  great  man,"  she  said:  "he  is  al 
ready  famous,  that  is  to  be  great. " 

"  As  Christ  went  down  the  Lonesome  Road," 

sang  Uncle  Benny,  who  was  voluntary  housekeeper 
at  Vesty's  during  some  hours  of  the  day,  while  the 
father  and  boys  were  away  at  the  fishing: 

"  As  Christ  went  down  the  Lonesome  Road — 
Sail  away  to  Galilee. 

He  left  the  Crown  and  He  took  the  Cross! 
Sail  away  to  Galilee. 
Sail  away  to  Galilee — 

Oh,  He  left  the  Crown  and  He  took  the  Cross- 
Sail  away  to  Galilee! " 

He  came  forward  to  take  the  baby,  who  had  awak 
ened  before  he  began  to  sing.  The  Basin  matrons 
ran  in  very  much,  but  there  was  no  "  Vesty  "  to  enter 
and  take  the  continued  care,  in  this  case,  until  the 
young  mother  should  be  strong  again. 

"You  can  sweep  up,  major, "  said  Uncle  Benny, 
cheerfully  pointing  me  to  the  broom. 

"  Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee — " 

he  sang,  walking  so  proudly  with  the  infant  that 
his  gait  was  most  innocently  jaunty  and  affected. 

Vesty  laughed  and  shook  her  head  at  me,  but  I 
had  the  broom  and  was  hobbling  about  at  work  with 
it,  pleased  to  find  that  Uncle  Benny  had  rather  neg 
lected  this  humble  office  for  the  more  important  one 
of  minding  the  baby. 

He  next  set  me  to  washing  the  dishes  and  turning 
the  churn;  he  would  not  trust  me  with  the  child, 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY  S  YACHT        107 

and  wisely.  That  he  held  in  his  own  strong  arms, 
but  he  sat  down  beside  me  after  my  work  was  done 
and  gently  commiserated  me. 

"  Nature  has  not  done  so  much  for  you  as  she  has 
for  some,  you  know,"  he  said. 

"No,  indeed,"  I  murmured. 

At  that  he  took  off  his  blue  necktie  and  held  it 
toward  me,  with  a  tear  of  pity  in  his  eye. 

I  took  it  and  tied  it  simply  around  my  neck  above 
the  collar. 

"It  improves  you — some,"  he  said,  but  his  look 
only  too  plainly  indicated  that  there  was  still  much 
to  be  desired. 

We  were  sitting  thus  on  the  doorstep,  Uncle  Benny 
with  the  baby,  and  I  peeling  the  potatoes,  with  his 
blue  ribbon  tied  around  my  neck,  when  I  heard  a 
half-familiar  little  scream  and  laugh,  and,  looking 
up,  beheld  a  fashionable  company. 

"We  hailed  Gurdon,  off  Reef  Island,  and  he  said 
we  might  come  and  see  the  son  and  heir — hurrah! " 

Notely  spoke  in  his  gay  voice,  but  the  look  he 
gave  Vesty's  child — Vesty's  sweet  self  in  that  form — 
leaped  with  a  passionate  pain. 

There  was  a  small,  brilliant-looking  woman  beside 
him,  with  eye-glasses.  "O  you  divine  infant!"  she 
exclaimed,  regarding  the  child.  "Where  is  the  Ma 
donna?" 

Now,  I  was  purposely  gathering  up  the  potato  peel 
ings  very  slowly  from  the  doorway,  so  that  the  "  Ma 
donna"  might  have  time  to  take  down  a  certain  blue 
sack  from  the  bedpost  at  hand,  and  put  it  on,  and 


108  VESTY   OF    THE    BASINS 

give  those  little  finger-touches  to  the  hair  that  wom 
en  covet;  so  I  stumbled  over  the  peelings  and  got 
mixed  up  with  them,  until  even  Uncle  Benny  felt 
called  upon  to  apologize  for  me. 

"  He  looks  some  better,"  he  said  dubiously,  touch 
ing  his  neck:  "but, "he  continued,  in  a  very  soft 
and  confidential  tone,  "  Nature  has  not  done  so  much 
for  him  as  she  has  for  some,  you  know." 

All  the  party  had  the  air  of  having  just  had  a  very 
merry  luncheon  on  board  the  yacht. 

By  the  side  of  Notely's  bride  was  one  of  the  hand 
somest  young  athletes,  almost  as  handsome  as  Fluke 
and  Gurdon  Rafe. 

"  What-th — what-th  the  admithion  ? "  he  whispered 
to  Grace,  plunging  his  hand  in  among  the  coin  in 
his  pockets;  "  ith — ith  there  any  more  of  the  thame 
kind  inthide?" 

"  Hush !  "  said  she  quickly,  for  she  knew  that  I  had 
heard.  She  lifted  a  hand  impulsively  toward  his 
mouth:  he  caught  her  hand  and  looked  as  though  he 
would  have  held  it;  she  drew  it  away,  blushing 
sweetly,  and  sighed,  as  she  had  sighed  at  Notely. 

Vesty  saw  that,  as  they  entered ;  saw  Notely  enter 
with  his  easy,  unobservant  swagger,  lest  the  unex 
pected  visit  of  this  fashionable  company  should  em 
barrass  her.  He  walked  across  the  room,  humming 
an  air,  to  his  old  violin. 

He  touched  a  strain  or  two.  "  Do  you  remember, 
Vesty,"  he  said  airily,  drawing  nearer,  "this? — and 
this?  You  have  such  a  beautiful  little  boy,  Vesty! 
I  am  so  glad! — so  glad!  And  this? — do  you  remem- 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY'S  YACHT        109 

ber  ?  "  He  played  as  though  he  could  play  away  the 
pallor  from  that  tender  face  upon  the  pillows;  the 
pitiful,  fine  little  blue  sack  added  to  it.  I  had  left 
the  dust-pan  loaded  with  its  spoils,  the  ragged  handle, 
as  I  now  perceived,  not  quite  hidden  behind  the 
door:  it  caught  on  to  the  skirts  of  the  brilliant  lady 
with  the  eye-glasses,  and  went  trailing  loudly  after 
her  along  the  floor.  As  I  stooped  down  to  detach 
it,  sheltered  behind  those  fine  draperies,  IgaveVesty 
such  a  side  glance  that  a  smile  and  color  came  over 
her  face  in  spite  of  herself. 

"Such  power  of  attraction!"  said  Notely,  turning 
to  the  lady  his  laughing  eyes,  with  that  unconscious 
pathos  which  a  lovely  woman  never  failed  to  dis 
cover  in  them;  "even  the  dust-pans" — he  swept  the 
strings  of  the  violin — "  even  the  dust-pans  become 
attached  to  you." 

"On  the  contrary,"  said  she,  giving  him  a  sharp 
glance  which  he  relished  from  her  very  bright  though 
near-sighted  eyes;  "it  is  not  often  that  I  have  be 
come  attached  to  anything  so  useful." 

He  laughed  with  mettlesome  good-nature. 

The  bride,  with  her  attendant  brave,  had  gone  up 
to  Uncle  Benny  and  the  baby. 

"Let  me  take  him,"  she  said,  holding  up  her 
beautiful  arms. 

Uncle  Benny  smiled  at  her,  half  remembering  her 
— it  was  an  old  joke,  his  becoming  engaged  to  every 
pretty  woman  he  met — but  shook  his  head. 

"  It  's  a  particular  trust,"  he  said,  in  his  very  soft, 
sweet  voice;  "from  Jesus  Christ  and  mother.  What 


110  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

if  somebody  should  drop  him,  or  hurt  him?     I  have 
to  be  very  careful,  for  it  's  a  trust. 

"  '  There  's  a  tree  I  see  in  Paradise — '  " 
he  suddenly  broke  into  the  song  again  in  a  loud  and 
perfectly  unembarrassed  tone: 

"  '  Sail  away  to  Galilee. 
It  's  the  beautiful,  waiting  Tree  of  Life — 
Sail  away  to  Galilee. 
Sail  away  to  Galilee.'  " 

"  Good  gwaciouth !  "  said  the  young  man,  fumbling 
the  coin  in  his  pockets  and  listening  in  a  dazed  state 
of  appreciation  at  the  unexpected  resources  of  this 
menagerie. 

"Doctor!"  cried  Notely — and  that  address  de 
lighted  Uncle  Benny — "  Dr.  Spearmint,  let  me  make 
you  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Forrester" — some  wailing 
strains  from  the  violin — "she  could  get  a  divorce 
from  her  present  consort,  I  suppose — ahem! — if  there 
were  encouragement  enough  from  some  one  suffi 
ciently  endowed  by  nature." 

"It  is  better  to  be  simple  than  to  be  wicked,"  in 
stantly  retorted  the  bright  little  woman,  regarding 
Uncle  Benny  humorously  and  not  without  compas 
sion. 

But  Uncle  Benny  was  not  to  be  disturbed  again ; 
he  had  his  cue. 

"Oh,  thank  you!  "  he  murmured;  "but  I  couldn't 
think  of  it,  anyway.  I've  got  so  many  trusts. 
There  's  Vesty's  baby,  and  there  's  the  little  children 
I  take  to  school  every  day  and  go  to  fetch  them. 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY  S  YACHT        III 

I'm  very  careful,  because  they're  trusts,  you  see;" 
and  he  marched  on  gladly  with  the  baby,  singing. 

"  You  ought  to  be  ashamed,  all  of  you!  "  said  Mrs. 
Forrester;  and  sat  down  by  Vesty  with  friendly  ad 
vice  and  prattle  about  her  own  babies. 

Notely  dreamed  away  on  his  violin:  that  made 
it  easy  for  the  rest.  His  bride  and  the  handsome 
young  man  flirted  with  ardor,  yet  quite  transpar 
ently:  there  was  a  smile  wholly  devoid  of  bitterness 
on  Notely's  lips. 

"Grace!"  cried  the  sharp  little  woman  at  last; 
"  we've  some  superfluous  shawls  on  board  the  yacht 
that  would  make  such  charming  rugs  for  Mrs.  Rafe's 
baby.  If  Mrs.  Rafe  could  send  one  of  her  servants 
down  to  the  shore  to  call  a  man  from  the  boat." 

"I'd  thend — thend  the  one  with  the  body,"  said 
the  young  man,  still  afflicted  with  wonder  at  Uncle 
Benny  and  myself,  and  indicating  Uncle  Benny  the 
more  hopefully. 

"  I  prefer  the  one  with  the  mind,"  said  Mrs.  For 
rester  gravely,  snapping  a  glance  at  him  that  was 
not  without  meaning.  "Why,  when  you  have  been 
drinking  too  much  wine,  Cousin  Jack,  can  you  not  go 
and  sit  down  in  a  corner  and  amuse  yourself  inno 
cently  by  yourself  as  Mr.  Garrison  does?" 

At  that  Notely  looked  up  and  shot  at  her  a  long, 
gay  challenge  without  words:  his  eyes  in  themselves 
seemed  to  fascinate  her,  as  they  did  most  people; 
she  brightened  with  a  caressing,  artistic  sense  of 
pleasure  in  them. 

"Well,  I  like  that!"  said  her  cousin,  having  by 


112  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

this  time  framed  a  rejoinder  to  her  question.  "  Grace 
and  I  haven't  thpooned  anything  like  you  and  Note 
did,  thailing  down,  only  you're  so  deuced  thly  about 
it!" 

"You  are  disgusting,"  said  she,  too  lofty  and  se 
rene  to  be  annoyed. 

I  had  my  hat  and  was  slipping  out  on  my  errand 
to  the  boat.  Vesty,  with  evident  distress,  was  about 
to  explain:  I  put  my  finger  to  my  lips  with  another 
side  glance  of  such  meaning  that  she  kept  still  and 
even  smiled  again. 

I  called  a  man  and  brought  him  to  the  house  for 
Mrs.  Forrester's  directions.  He  soon  returned  with 
the  rugs,  which  Vesty  accepted  for  her  baby  as  well 
as  she  could;  Uncle  Benny  all  the  time  singing  glee 
fully. 

The  party  moved  to  go;  in  passing  through  the 
door  Mrs.  Forrester  dropped  her  handkerchief.  I 
picked  it  up  and  handed  it  to  her. 

"Thank  you,  my  poor  fellow,"  she  said;  "you 
have  the  manners  of  a  prince!  "and  put  a  coin  in 
my  hand — a  piece  of  silver.  I  took  the  money. 

Vesty  was  still,  after  they  were  gone,  her  hands 
over  her  face.  I  knew  well  what  thoughts  she  was 
thinking. 

"Do  not  go,"  she  said  to  me,  and  her  voice  was 
like  the  low  cry  of  her  own  child;  "you  are  smiling 
still."  She  looked  at  me  with  strained  eyes. 

"Well,  perhaps  because  I  am  glad  Mrs.  Garrison 
would  not  adopt  you  and  take  you  away  from  the 
Basin ;  perhaps  because  I  am  glad  no  handsome  rake 


A  CALL  FROM  NOTELY  S  YACHT        113 

will  ever  ogle  you  as  our  lisping  young  man  did 
Mrs.  Notely  Garrison." 

"It  meant  nothing  between  them  all,"  said  Vesty, 
her  hand  over  her  eyes;  "you  know  that  better  than 
I.  It  is  only  the  way  they  do." 

"It  meant  nothing!  It  is  only  the  way  they 
do." 

I  put  away  the  violin  Notely's  fingers  had  so  lately 
touched.  The  tears  stole  down  Vesty's  cheeks  and 
trembled  on  her  lips. 

"He  does  not  care,"  she  said;  "that  is  the  worst! 
He  does  not  care  as  he  did  once." 

"  For  what,  Vesty  ? " 

"  For  anything  but  having  a  good  time  and  mak 
ing  fun  with  people,  and  all  that.  He  used  to  talk 
with  me — oh,  so  high  and  noble,  about  things!" 
Her  eyes  flashed,  then  darkened  again  with  pain. 

"  Ay,  I  know  he  has  seen  the  model  and  been 
pierced  with  it.  He  can  never  forget;  he  will  come 
back." 

"The  model?" 

"  You  know  once  there  was  a  Master  who  was  de 
termined  all  his  people  should  paint  him  a  picture 
after  a  great  model  he  had  set  before  them.  It 
seemed  not  to  be  an  attractive  model;  it  seemed  full 
of  pain  and  loss;  the  world  looked  to  be  full  of 
other  designs  more  desirable. 

"  So  that  there  were  hardly  any  but  that  wandered 
from   it,  to  paint   pictures  of   their  own;  there  was 
hardly,  if  ever,  a  great  or  a  true  and  patient  artist — 
for  they  are  the  same  thing. 
8 


114  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Some  found  the  colors  at  hand  so  brilliant,  and 
were  so  possessed  with  the  beauty  of  dreams  of  their 
own,  that  the}'  spent  long  years  in  painting  for  them 
selves  splendid  houses  in  bewitching  landscapes, 
red  passion  roses,  and  heaps  of  glittering  gold,  that 
looked  like  treasures,  but  were  nothing. 

"Some  painted  dark,  sad  glimpses  of  eaith  and 
sea  and  sky  that  were  called  beautiful,  the  skill  in 
them  was  so  perfect.  Looking  at  them,  one  saw 
only  the  drear  night  drawing  on. 

"  But  there  were  some  who  had  no  great  dreams  of 
their  own  to  work  out,  or  if  they  had  they  turned 
from  them  with  obedience  above  all:  and  many, 
many,  broken-hearted  from  their  failure  in  their  own 
designs,  who  turned  now  to  follow  the  Master's  model. 
And  it  was  strange,  but  as  they  regarded  it  intently 
and  faithfully  there  grew  to  be  in  it  for  them  a 
beauty  ever  more  and  more  surpassing  all  earthly 
dreams. 

"They  were  dim  of  sight  and  trembling  of  hand; 
often  they  mixed  the  colors  wrong,  they  spilled 
them,  they  made  great  blotches  and  mistakes;  but 
they  washed  them  out  with  tears  and  went  to  work 
again,  yearning  pitifully  after  the  model ;  in  hope 
or  despair,  living  or  dying,  their  fingers  still  moved 
at  the  task  as  they  kept  looking  there. 

"  And  always  the  Master  knew.  This  was  the 
strangest  of  all,  that  some  of  the  dimmest,  wavering 
outlines,  some  of  the  saddest  blotted  details,  were 
the  beautifullest  in  his  eyes,  because  he  read  just 
the  depth  of  the  endeavor  underneath;  until,  in  this 


A    CALL    FROM    NOTELY'S   YACHT  115 

light,  as  he  lifted  it  up,  some  poor,  weary,  tearful, 
bungled  work  shone  fairer  than  the  sun!  " 

Keeping  faithful  watch  of  the  clock,  Uncle  Benny 
at  the  appointed  hour  had  given  up  the  baby  to 
Vesty,  to  go  and  bring  the  children  home  from 
school.  We  heard  him  in  the  distance  still  singing 
joyfully  his  "  Sail  away  to  Galilee!  " 

"There  is  a  faithful  artist,"  I  said,  and  smiled; 
"would  God  I  had  come  up  to  him,  with  his  unceas 
ing  watch  over  the  little  ones!  And  Blind  Rodgers 
too,  who  never  complains,  and  who  will  not  trouble 
anybody,  but  keeps  his  life  so  spotless." 

Vesty  lay  very  still.  "  Do  you  think  Notely  was 
painting  a  picture  of  his  own?"  she  said.  "  Do  you 
think  I  was  proud  because  he  could  paint  such  pict 
ures  of  his  own,  and  wanted  him  to?  You  said  he 
had  been  pierced  with  it" — she  was  talking  to  her 
self  now — "he  will  come  back." 

"  He  will  come  back." 

''Who  are  you?"  she  said,  her  Basin  eyes  turned 
clear  and  full  upon  me.  "You  let  them  call  you 
my  servant !  " 

"Not  because  I  was  afflicted  with  humility,  but 
because  I  was  proud  and  happy  to  be  that.  And  be 
cause  it  was  a  good  joke:  you  do  not  mind  my  en 
joying  a  good  joke,  I  hope?  Then  you  do  not  know 
how  happy  it  made  me ;  I  have  had  so  much  done 
for  me,  and  have  been  so  little  useful." 

Vesty  was  not  satisfied.  Her  clear,  impersonal 
gaze  held  me  with  a  look  fearless  of  its  compassion, 
single  and  direct. 


Il6  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  leave  the  Basin,"  she  said. 
"  I  am  never — I  am  never  happy  when  you  are  away. " 

"  God  bless  you,  my  little  girl !  "  I  said,  and  hob 
bled  away  to  finish  the  housework,  but  my  heart 
seemed  to  take  on  a  pair  of  pure  white  wings,  like 
dove's  wings.  I  forgot  withal  that  I  was  lame. 


ANOTHER  NAIL 


XI 

ANOTHER  NAIL 

"CHIPADEES  sing  pretty,"  said  Captain  Pharo, 
drawing  a  match  along  the  leg  of  his  trousers  and 
lighting  his  pipe,  as  we  stood  amid  the  song  of  birds 
in  the  lane — "but  robins  is  noisy  creeturs,  always 
at  the  same  old  tune — poo!  poo!  hohum!  Wai, 
wal — 

-      I        ,        i      ~T     —I      j,      f      f5*- 
~  g^J ^      ^  i= 

"  'My      days    are       as       the     grass,   Or        as — '" 

he  paused  there,  having  his  pipe  well  going. 

"Yes,"  said  I,  gulping  down  some  unworthy  emo 
tions  of  my  own;  "yes,  indeed." 

"  Come  down  to  see  ef  ye  wouldn't  like  t'  go  up  t' 
the  Point  with  us,  t'  git  a  nail  put  in  the  hoss's 
shu-u? " 

"Oh,  yes,  thank  you!  by  all  means,"  I  replied. 

"  My  woman  heered — poo !  poo ! — 


"  '  Or       as        the     morn  -  ing    flow'r, ' 

— she  heered  't  there  was  goin'  to  be  a  show  up  thar' 
to-night — some  play-actor  folks.  'Ten  Nights  in  a 
Ba-ar  Room  '  " — the  captain  took  the  pipe  out  of  his 
mouth  and  yawned  with  affected  unconcern.  "  I've 


Il8  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

heered  o*  worse  names  for  a  show;  but  ye  know  what 
women-folks  is  when  there  's  any  play-actin'  around. 
They're  jest  like  sheep  next  to  a  turnip  patch." 

"Are  they?" 

"Oh,  by  clam!  ye  don't  knownothin'  'bout  female 
grass  yit,  major — nothin'.  Bars  can't  shet  'em  out." 
I  followed  his  sad  gaze  to  the  west,  and  we  sighed 
in  unison. 

"  By  the  way,  how  's  your  show  stock  gittin'  along, 
major?" 

"  My  show  stock  ? " 

"Why,  sartin;  we  thinks  all  the  more  on  ye,  ef 
that  c'd  be,  for  havin'  some  business.  Ye  see,  the 
way  my  woman  found  it  out,  she  runs  over  to  Lu 
nette's  every  mail  day  and  helps  her  sort  the  mail, 
'nd  she  said  all  the  letters  't  come  directed  to  'Mr. 
Paul  Henry'  had  a  mess  o*  wax  run  onto  the  fold  of 
every  envelope  with  a  pictur'  stamped  inter  it  o'  a 
couple  o'  the  cur'osest-lookin'  creeturs;  said  'twas 
jest  the  head  an'  necks  of  'em  an'  they  looked 
to  be  retchin'  up  ter  eat  out  o'  the  same  soup 
plate;  said  't  must  be  your  stock  to  the  circus;  for 
business  folks  often  has  their  business  picturs  put  on 
outside  their  envelopes,  ye  know,  and  jedgin'  by  the 
cur'osity  of  'em,  she  thought  they  must  be  doin' 
pretty  well  by  ye." 

"Oh,  they  are,  captain,"  I  sighed;  "yes,  they're 
doing  pretty  well  by  me." 

"Wai  now,  ef  you've  got  a  comf'tably  good  thing, 
major,  be  content  with  it;  'tain't  easy  to  git  onto  a 
new  job  nowadays.  Ain't  there  some  pertick'lar 


ANOTHER   NAIL  lIQ 

spear  o'  grass  ye'd  like  t'  have  set  on  the  back  seat 
with  ye?"  he  continued  cheerfully.  "She  rides 
easier  for  havin'  consid'rable  ballast,  ye  know." 

"  I  don't  know  of  any.  Mrs.  Lester  is  away  at  her 
daughter-in-law's." 

"Hain't  ye  never  thought — poo!  poo!  hohum! — 
wal,  wal — 


=#- 

'  The  blighting  wind  sweeps  o'er,  she — ' 

hain't  ye  never  thought  o'  Miss  Pray?" 
"  In  what  way,  captain  ?  " 
"  Wal,  as  a — poo !  poo  !— 


"  '  She— ' 

as  a  pertick'lar  spear,  ye  know?" 

"No." 

"  In  course  human  nature  turns  natchally  to  pink 
and  white  clover,  like  Vesty;  but  I  tell  ye,  major, 
when  it  comes  to  a  honest  jedgment  o'  grass  thar'  's 
lots  o'  comfort  arter  all  to  be  took  out  o'  old  red 
timothy.  Old  red  timothy  goes  to  shutin'  right 
up  straight  an'  minds  her  own  business.  She  ain't 
a-tryin'  so  many  o'  these  d — d  ructions  on  ye.  My 
foot  's  some  better,"  said  he,  lifting  the  maimed 
member;  "but  she  ain't  yit  what  she  use  ter  be.  It 
'u'd  make  a  home  for  ye,  'ithout  payin*  no  board, 
an'  ef  ye  got  red  o'  payin'  yer  board  ye  wouldn't 
mind  ef  she  didn't  treat  ye  quite  so  well — for  that  's 
the  way  'ith  all  female  grass,  clover  'n'  all,  when 


l2d  VESfY    OF    THE    BASINS 

they  once  gits  spliced  onto  ye.  But  'ith  what  ye 
gits  from  yer  show  ye  c'd  buy  a  boss,  an'  when  the 
wind  's  in  the  nor'-east  ye  c'd  tack  away  from  home 
on  some  arrant — see?  But  don't  arsk  her,  'less  ye 
means  ter  stand  by  it,  major,  for  the  women-folks 
has  got  to  settin'  onaccountable  store  by  ye,  ye  kind 
o'  humors  of  'em  so." 

I  limped  down  the  lane  to  invite  Miss  Pray  on  our 
excursion,  with  light  feet.  Was  it  the  air  again,  or 
was  it  the  new  consciousness  that  I  was  developing 
into  a  beloved  and  coveted  beau? 

I  stepped  into  the  cottage  through  the  low  win 
dow,  as  I  often  did.  At  the  same  moment  the  cover 
of  the  wood-box  flew  up,  and  I  beheld  the  rosy,  good- 
natured  visage  of  Miss  Fray's  orphan  girl  looking 
out:  she  put  her  finger  on  her  lip. 

"Sh!" 

"What  is  it?"  I  said. 

She  pointed  upward.  I  saw  on  the  long  spike 
which  held  the  horseshoe  over  the  door  a  pail  of 
water  so  delicately  hung  that  whoever  first  entered 
there  must  receive  its  contents  in  one  fell  unmiti 
gated  deluge  upon  the  crown. 

"Sh!  It 's  Wesley's"  (her  fellow-orphan)  "  it  's 
Wesley's  birthday.  I  ain't  got  no  present  to  give 
him,  so  I'm  going  to  souze  him  with  cold  water:  he  's 
bringin'  in  some  wood — there  's  steps!  Sh!  " 

She  ducked  into  the  wood-box,  which  had  subter 
ranean  channels  of  escape,  with  anticipated  delight, 
and  put  down  the  cover,  leaving  me  alone  in  the 
room  with  the  approaching  victim  and  in  the  unen- 


ANOTHER   NAIL  121 

viable  position  of  appearing  to  be  the  sole  perpetra 
tor  of  this  malign  deed. 

I  had  the  merest  time  to  master  this  idea,  when  the 
door  swung  in  upon  its  hinges,  and  not  Wesley,  but 
Miss  Pray  herself,  stood  before  me,  a  mad  and  a 
blighted  object. 

I  gazed  at  her,  horror-struck,  and  was  endeavor 
ing  to  speak,  when  Wesley,  staggering  in  behind  her 
with  his  arms  full  of  wood,  came  to  my  relief.  "  O 
Miss  Pray,  'twan't  major,  honest  'twan't,  nor 
'twan't  me,  Miss  Pray:  'twas  that  Belle  O'Neill, 
an'  she  's  mos'  got  to  the  graves  by  this  time.  I 
seed  her  runnin',  through  the  windy.  O  Lord! 
O  Miss  Pray!  how  wet  you  looks  when  you're  as 
wet  as  you  be  now,  Miss  Pray!  " 

"Indeed  it  was  not  meant  for  you,"  I  cried. 
"Belle  meant  it  for  a  birthday  jest  on  Wesley." 

"Oh,  I  wish  it  had  b'en,  Miss  Pray,"  gasped  poor 
Wesley,  with  ill-timed  sympathy;  "I'm  so  much 
more  used  to  bein'  wet  'n  you  be." 

It  was  doubtful  toward  which  Miss  Pray  was  wax 
ing  most  warm — the  recusant  Belle  O'Neill,  or  the 
stupid,  open-mouthed  Wesley — when  I  stepped  in  at 
this  juncture  and  entreated  her  with  the  Kobbes'  in 
vitation. 

"I'll  go,"  said  she,  with  evident  satisfaction 
gleaming  even  through  her  dripping  state,  "  's  soon 
's  I've  changed  my  clo's  and  whipped  Belle 
O'Neill." 

During  the  former  process  I  volunteered,  as  one 
whom  she  would  trust,  to  watch  for  Belle,  and  lure 


122  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

her,  if  possible,  to  the  house.  I  repeatedly  saw  that 
damsel's  head  peering  out  from  behind  the  grave 
stones  of  Miss  Fray's  ancestors,  down  by  the  sea 
wall,  and  making  signals  to  me  to  know  if  advance 
were  safe. 

And  every  time,  prostituting  sublime  justice  to  a 
weak  sense  of  compassion,  I  waved  her  back  to  her 
fastness  until  after  we  should  be  gone. 

"Shall  I  tell  her  't  you'll  whip  her  after  you  git 
back,  Miss  Pray?"  said  Wesley,  with  deep  relish. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Pray,  who  had  now  appeared,  re 
splendent  in  holiday  attire.  "Do  you  want  her  to 
run  away,  and  leave  me  without  help  ?  Air  as  keep 
your  mouth  shet — that  's  the  safest  commands  for 
you;  all 'as  keep  your  mouth  shet." 

Wesley  closed  that  wide  organ,  with  a  look  of 
wondering  surprise. 

Miss  Pray  was  lean  and  resplendent,  not  gray  and 
comfortable  like  my  friend  Mrs.  Lester.  There  was 
no  blueberry  "  turnover"  to  devour.  As  we  passed 
over  the  jolting  road  I  clung  desperately  to  the  car 
riage  bars. 

But  it  appeared  that  the  captain  had  an  abnormal 
design,  before  entering  the  Point,  of  descending  into 
a  shallow  branch  of  Crooked  River,  there  to  wash 
the  mud  of  past  happy  epochs  from  the  carriage. 

"Wai,  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe,"  said  his  young  wife, 
stultified  with  amaze  at  this  proceeding,  "I  should 
like  to  know  what  's  took  you!  " 

"  Adm'r'l  bet,  spell  ago,  't  he  could  scrape  twenty- 
five  pound  o'  mud  off 'n  my  two-seated  kerridge  next 


ANOTHER    NAIL  1 23 

time  I  driv  her  to  the  Point.  Jest  keep  yer  eyes  up 
the  road,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  standing,  diligently 
and  furtively  swashing,  with  his  unconscious  boots 
submerged  in  water,  "t*  see  that  thar'  ain't  nobody 
lookin'." 

"What  's  he  goin'  to  give  ye,  if  ye  win  the  bet, 
cap'n?"  said  his  lively  wife. 

The  captain  cast  me  a  dark  and  fleeting  wink 
over  his  shoulder.  "Poo!  poo!"  he  sang:  "hohum! 


"'My      days    are       as       the     grass,   Or       as — ' 

anybody  in  sight,  major?" 

"  No;  the  road  is  all  clear." 

"  What  's  he  goin'  to  give  ye,  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe, 
if  ye  win  the  bet?" 

==r==F=^^==t=?==F==j=^ 
— ' i  ^=z^      "J— ^— =£ • 

'"Or       as        the    morn  -  ing    flow'r,  The    blight—1" 

"Ye  needn't  keep  on  singin',  Captain  Pharo 
Kobbe;  for  the  sake  o'  the  company,  I  shan't  ask 
ye  nothin'  more." 

Saddened  by  this  blight,  his  evil  and  surreptitious 
deed  being  accomplished,  Captain  Pharo  backed  out 
of  the  stream. 

But  the  triumphant  smile  returned  to  his  counte 
nance  as  he  advanced  on  the  Point  and  found  Ad 
miral  'S  I  Sums-it-up  sitting  within  the  porch  of  the 
grocery  with  other  of  his  townsmen. 

"Adm'r'l,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  "I  want  ye  to 
step  down  here  and  scrape  twenty-five  pound  o'  mud 
off' n  my  two-seated  kerridge. " 


124  VESfY   OF    tHE   BASINS 

The  admiral  regarded  us  fixedly  for  some  mo 
ments,  fireless  pipe  in  expressionless  mouth,  and 
then  rose  and  descended  to  us.  The  women  had 
already  contemptuously  left  our  company  and  gone 
about  their  shopping. 

"Come  along,  Kobbe!"  said  the  admiral,  "and 
bring" — he  glanced  with  calm,  meaningless  vision 
at  me — "bring  all  the  rest  on  ye." 

He  led  us  under  the  loud  sign  of  a  tin  shop,  where, 
after  sedate  speculation  in  the  matter  of  purchasing 
a  tea-kettle  with  a  consuming  leak  in  the  bottom,  he 
cleared  his  throat.  "  'S  I  sums  it  up,"  said  he  to  the 
proprietor,  without  further  utterance;  that  individual 
looked  doubtfully  at  me. 

"Oh,  he  's  all  right,"  said  Captain  Pharo;  "he  's 
a  cousin  o'  mine  in  the  show  business." 

This  introduction  proving  more  than  satisfactory, 
we  were  ushered  into  a  small  room  apart  and  the 
door  locked  behind  us:  but  missing  Uncle  Coffin's 
inspiration  in  this  case,  and  remembering  the  qual 
ity  of  the  liquid,  I  made  a  smart  show  of  drinking, 
without  in  the  least  diminishing  the  contents  of  the 
bottle. 

Not  so,  however,  good  Captain  Pharo:  from  this 
time  on  his  conduct  waxed  sunny  and  genial,  as 
well  as  irresponsible  of  the  grave  duties  which  had 
hitherto  afflicted  him. 

"Thar"  's  a  lot  o'  winter  cabbage,  't  was  sp'ilin' 
down  in  mysuller,  't  I  put  in  onto  the  kerridge  floor, 
major,"  said  he;  "  ef  ye're  mind  ter  sell  'em  out  for 
what  ye  can  git,  to  harves,  ye're  welcome.  Sell  'em 


ANOTHER    NAIL  125 

out  to  hulls,  by  clam !  "  he  called  after  me.  "  I  ain't 
so  mean  't  I  carn't  help  a  young  man  along  a  little." 

I  returned  to  the  carriage  and  arranged  my  fading 
cabbages  as  attractively  as  possible,  offset  by  the 
glories  of  the  star  bed-quilt;  and  whether  it  was  be 
cause  the  news  had  already  spread  that  I  was  in  the 
show  business,  or  by  reason  of  some  of  those  occult 
charms  at  which  Captain  Pharo  had  hinted,  I  was 
soon  surrounded  by  a  lively  group  of  women. 

"Here  's  one  't  ain't  worth  but  two  cents,"  said 
one  fair  creature,  holding  up  a  specimen  of  my 
stock,  whose  appearance  beside  her  own  fresh  beauty 
caused  me  to  writhe  for  shame.  "  I  shan't  give  a 
mite  more  for  her." 

"O  madam,  is  she  worth  that?"  I  denied  im 
pulsively. 

The  woman,  speechless,  dropped  the  cabbage  to 
the  earth. 

"  Here  's  a  nickel,  anyway,  for  your  bein'  so  hon 
est,"  she  exclaimed,  soon  afterward. 

I  took  it  with  a  bow.  And  here  sordid  consider 
ations  ceased,  as  they  had  begun:  my  pious  emo 
tions  toward  the  sex  conquered,  and  I  became  not 
the  base  purveyor  but  the  elegant  distributor  of  cab 
bages,  right  and  left,  only  with  murmured  apologies 
for  gifts  so  unworthy. 

I  was  now  evidently  classified  as  belonging  high 
in  the  spectacular  drama;  when  the  horse,  having 
finished  the  meal  of  cracked  corn  he  had  been  enjoy 
ing  by  the  roadside,  with  the  reins  thrown  slack 
over  his  neck,  suddenly  lifted  his  head  with  an  air 


126  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

of  arriving  at  some  instant  conclusion  and  started 
merrily  down  the  road. 

Too  lame  to  jump  from  a  moving  vehicle,  my  first 
emotions  of  dismay  gradually  disappeared,  however, 
as  I  found  that  our  passage  was  not  disturbed  even  by 
the  most  untoward  outward  events.  For  a  base-ball 
from  the  bat  of  some  players  in  an  adjoining  field  hit 
the  noble  animal  full  in  the  flank  without  occasioning 
any  alarm  to  his  gait  or  divergence  from  .his  re 
solved  purpose. 

He  turned  down  the  Artichoke  road  and  went 
straight  to  Uncle  Coffin's.  "  I've  come  to  take  you 
and  Aunt  Salomy  to  the  show,"  I  said,  lifted  out 
and  knocked  hither  and  thither  by  my  friend  in  his 
tender  ecstasy. 

"  Cruisin'  out  on  the  high  seas  without  no  rudder, 
you — you  young  spark,  you!"  he  cried  delightedly. 
"You're  'most  too  full  o'  the  devil  t'  exist! "  he  ex 
claimed  at  last,  holding  me  out  at  arm's-length  ad 
miringly. 

Proud  now  of  my  wickedness  as  I  had  for 
merly  been  of  my  charms,  I  steered  my  friends  to 
the  Point  by  the  conventional  means  of  the  rudder. 
Captain  Pharo,  who  had  been  so  congenially  occu 
pied  that  he  had  not  even  missed  me,  heaped  enco 
miums  upon  me,  and  receiving  Uncle  Coffin  almost 
with  tears  of  joy  in  his  eyes,  led  him  away  to  the 
tin  shop. 

I  secured  more  cracked  corn  for  the  horse  and  shed- 
room,  where  I  tied  him  with  retrospective  security. 
There  being  no  restaurant,  I  obtained  some  biscuits 


ANOTHER    NAIL  127 

and  cheese,  and  with  these  and  six  tickets  for  the 
very  front  row,  Aunt  Salomy  and  Mrs.  Kobbe  and 
Miss  Pray  and  I  stole  early  into  the  hall  and  sat  us 
down  to  rest. 

There  were  already  figures  as  for  a  rehearsal  be 
hind  the  curtain;  indeed,  that  thin  structure  revealed 
angry  silhouettes,  and  loud  voices  reached  us. 

"Sh!"  came  from  that  source:  "or  them  fools 
down  there,  eatin'  crackers  an'  cheese,  '11  hear  ye." 

"I  don't  care  if  the  whole  town  hears  me,  "replied 
a  passionate  female  voice.  "You  said  I  could  have 
twenty  dollars,  and  now  you  won't  give  it  to  me.  I 
won't  play  to-night  till  I  do  have  it — hear  that!  " 

"Sh!  or  I'll  shake  ye!  Don't  make  a  fool  o' 
yourself,  Maud.  Wait  till  I  get  to-night's  re 
ceipts " 

"I  won't!  I'd  like  to  see  you  shake  me;  ha! 
ha!" 

Here  the  angry  figures  became  plastic  and  tilted 
at  each  other  menacingly;  the  woman  seized  some 
thing  and  threw  it;  there  was  a  crash. 

Aunt  Salomy  choked  placidly  over  her  cracker 
crumbs.  Mrs.  Kobbe  gazed  with  faithful  interest. 

Soon  the  very  tall  and  hard-looking  young  man 
who  had  sold  me  the  tickets  came  down  from  behind 
the  curtain,  with  a  hang-dog  air,  and  his  handker 
chief  bound  about  his  head,  and  returned  to  the 
office  at  the  door. 

Almost  at  the  same  moment  Captain  Pharo  and 
Uncle  Coffin  walked  fearlessly  up  the  aisle,  their 
familiar  hats  on  their  heads,  their  pipes  in  harmo- 


128  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

nious  glowing  action,  and  sat  down  beside  us  with 
beams  of  recognition. 

The  hard  young  man,  who  appeared  to  be  pecu 
niary  manager  as  well  as  leading  star  of  the  show, 
came  to  us.  "  No  smoking  here!  "  he  said,  severely. 

"No  smokin' !  "  replied  Captain  Pharo.  "Ye'd 
orter  put  it  on  yer  plackards  then!  D'ye  s'pose  I'd 
come  to  yer  show  ef  I'd  known  that?  Come  along, 
Coffin!  I'm  goin'  ter  hang  out  outside,  by  clam! 

" '  My      days    are       as       the      grass,   Or        as — ' " 

"No  singing,  either,  sir,  on  the  part  of  the  audi 
ence.  This  company  is  from  Boston,  sir." 

"Is  she?"  said  Captain  Pharo,  with  blighting  sar 
casm,  new-lighting  his  pipe  preparatory  to  leaving 
the  hall;  "  I  thought  she  was  from  Jaffy !  " 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo!  "  said  Uncle  Coffin,  wirily 
folding  his  powerful  arms;  "keep  yer  seat,  Pharo, 
and  keep  yer  pipe.  Ef  any  man  from  Boston,  or 
any  other  man,  wants  ter  take  the  pipe  outer  my 
mouth,  or  outer  Pharo  Kobbe's  mouth,  let  'im  come 
on  an'  try  it!  " 

At  this  opportunity,  I  silently  pressed  a  coin  of 
such  meaning  into  the  manager's  hand  that  he  skipped 
gracefully  past  us  to  the  stage,  where  he  proceeded 
to  explain — while  the  ribs  of  court-plaster  with  which 
he  had  endeavored  to  conceal  his  wounds  kept  con 
stantly  falling  upon  the  floor — that,  owing  to  the  un 
avoidable  illness  of  some  of  the  actors,  he  should  be 
obliged  to  give  us  a  choice  variety  entertainment  in 
stead  of  the  play  advertised. 


ANOTHER    NAIL  129 

Captain  Pharo  and  Uncle  Coffin,  not  yet  compre 
hending  this  idea,  and  smoking  triumphantly  with 
their  hats  on,  listened  to  several  ranting  recitations 
from  the  wife  who  had  so  inopportunely  defaced 
her  husband's  visage;  but  when,  after  a  brief  recess, 
she  again  appeared  with  a  stage  bow,  Captain  Pharo 
looked  blankly  at  Uncle  Coffin. 

"  Where  's  the  ba-ar,  Coffin  ?  " 

"I  kind  o'  suspicion  they've  giv'  it  up,  Pharo; 
goin'  to  have  recitationers  'nstead. " 

"  Curfew  shall  not  ring  to-night!  "  yelled  the  wom 
an  on  the  stage,  with  a  leap  of  several  feet  perpen 
dicularly. 

"By  clam!"  cried  poor  Captain  Pharo,  rising;  "I 
don'  know  what  she  is,  but  she  is  goin'  to  ring,  and 
she  's  goin'  to  ring  loud  too,  by  clam!  I  come  here 
to  see  'Ten  Nights  in  a  Ba-ar  Room,'  I  didn't  come 
here  t'  see  contortionersand  recitationers.  Give  us 
any  more  o'  yer— 

Here,  an  onion,  thrown  from  the  rear  of  the  room 
by  some  sympathetic  partner  in  Captain  Pharo's 
woes,  came  whizzing  over  our  heads  and  just  missed 
the  woman,  by  good  aim;  she  retreated  without  the 
formality  of  her  usual  sweeping  bow.  The  manager 
began  hastily  to  get  together  his  stage  setting  for 
the  play.  A  table  and  a  bottle  were  first  produced; 
Captain  Pharo  and  Uncle  Coffin  began  to  nudge  each 
other  with  choice  anticipation  of  the  advancing 
drama,  when  another  onion,  thrown  with  unerring 
vision,  took  the  bottle  and  shattered  it,  with  its  con 
tents,  upon  the  stage  floor,  directly  under  our  faces. 
9 


130  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Captain  Pharo  leaned  forward  and  sniffed;  so  did 
Uncle  Coffin. 

"Water!  Coffin,  by  clam!  "said  Captain  Pharo, 
rising.  "  Plackards  said  'twas  goin'  to  be  are'listic 
play — and  here,  by  clam!  I've  rode  twelve  miles  over 
a  hubbly  road  an'  waited  'round  here  all  day,  jest  t' 
hear  a  spear  o'  female  grass  screech,  an'  see  a  pint 
bottle  o'  water  busted!  Come  along!  I'm  goin' 
home." 

How  futile  indeed  are  the  poor  effects  of  the  stage 
compared  with  the  ever  new  and  varied  drama  of  life 
itself! 

As  Miss  Pray  and  I  came  in  sight  of  her  cottage, 
at  this  now  uncanny  hour  of  the  night,  we  saw  that 
the  house  was  all  alight,  and  Belle  O'Neill  stood  in 
the  doorway,  loudly  and  gleefully  ringing  the  din 
ner-bell. 

"  O  Miss  Pray,  there  was  a  dead  pig  washed 
ashore  to-day,  right  down  on  your  clam-bottoms — 
such  a  beautiful  one! — jest  as  fat! — and  me  and 
Wesley  brought  it  up  and  roasted  it,  and  we've  been 
expectin'  you,  an'  expectin'  you,  an'  tryin'  to  keep 
it  hot " 

"A  dead  pig!  "  hissed  Miss  Pray.  "  Do  you  want 
to  murder  us?  Do  you  want  to  drown  me  in  the 
morning  and  p'ison  me  at  night,  Belle  O'Neill? 
For  heaven's  sake,  have  you  et  any  of  it?" 

The  appearance  of  the  dish  testified  only  too 
plainly  that  she  and  Wesley  had  dined. 

"You're  p'isoned!  "  shrieked  Miss  Pray:  "be  you 
prepared,  Belle  O'Neill  ?  Fat  pig!  He  was  prob- 


ANOTHER    NAIL  131 

'bly  bloated  with  p'ison!  Oh,  dear!  oh,  mercy! 
you're  prob'bly  dyin'  this  very  minit. " 

Belle  O'Neill  began  to  howl,  Wesley  to  weep  dis 
mally  with  low  moans,  his  fists  in  his  eyes. 

I  had  a  medicine  which  I  administered  to  the  two, 
in  case  the  exigency  were  as  fearful  as  Miss  Pray 
predicted,  which  I  strongly  doubted.  From  this,  as 
Belle  O'Neill  recovered,  she  turned  to  Miss  Pray 
with  the  confessional  fearlessness  of  one  who  has 
been  at  the  grave's  brink. 

"And,  oh,  Miss  Pray!  the  brindle  cow  's  calved 
and  hid  it  in  the  woods!  " 

"  So  you've  been  down  by  the  sea-wall,  hunting 
up  things  to  p'ison  the  only  friend  you  ever  had  on 
earth  with,  and  left  the  brindle  cow  and  her  calf  to 
die  in  the  woods?" 

But  Belle  O'Neill  had  reached  that  plane  of  de 
spondency  where  the  si  ings  and  arrows  of  outrageous 
fortune  could  no  longer  sting  her. 

"  I  meant  it  for  the  best,  Miss  Pray,"  she  said,  as 
we  all  started,  with  the  lantern,  for  the  woods. 

Never  had  I  engaged  in  a  scene  of  such  eerie  fas 
cinations;  especially  as,  when  we  discovered  the 
cow  with  her  calf,  and  endeavored  to  set  the  latter 
on  its  feet  and  lead  it,  the  cow  shook  her  horns  at 
us  with  such  an  aggressive  lunge,  I  fled  without  apol 
ogy  behind  a  tree,  where  Miss  Pray  and  Wesley, 
dropping  the  lantern,  pursued  me  with  entreaties  for 
protection! 

But  Belle  O'Neill,  seemingly  conscious  that  she 
had  to  redeem  herself  by  some  heroic  act  or  die, 


132  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

picked  up  the  lantern  and  continued  leading  the  calf, 
at  which  the  cow  singled  her  out  with  respect  and 
obediently  followed  her:  so  that  we  who  had  wit 
nessed  her  disgrace  now  followed  meekly,  afar  off, 
her  triumphal  procession  homeward. 

"That  girl  has  done  nobly,"  I  said. 

"Belle  O'Neill,"  said  Miss  Pray,  before  we  finally 
sought  that  repose  which  is  the  guerdon  of  all  nobly 
sustained  adventure,  "the  drownin'  and  the  p'isonin' 
is  both  forgot,  and  next  time  the  jew'lry  pedler 
comes  along  you  shall  have  a  breas'pin — that  is,  if 
you're  livin',  Belle  O'Neill." 

"Oh,  Belle  will  live,"  I  cried;  "the  danger  is 
over. " 

"Whether  I  lives  or  whether  I  dies,"  said  Belle 
O'Neill,  calm  now  on  heights  above  us  all,  "I  meant 
that  roast  pig  for  the  best,  Miss  Pray." 

But  before  I  could  get  to  sleep  that  night  I  gave 
myself  up  to  folly;  I  rolled  in  inextinguishable  fits 
of  laughter.  My  gray  heraldry,  my  ancient  coat  of 
arms,  innocently  maligned  as  they  had  been,  stared 
down  reproachfully  at  me  through  the  night.  I 
feebly  wiped  my  weeping  eyes  and  rolled  and 
laughed  the  more,  and  slept  at  last  such  a  sleep  as 
only  the  foolish  and  blessed  of  mortality  know. 


THE    MASTER    REVELLER  133 


XII 

THE  MASTER  REVELLER 

"NOTELV!  You  will  be  leading  Fluke  to  go 
wrong,  Notely.  He  takes  no  interest  at  home  or  in 
the  fishing  since  you  and  those  pleasure-men  you 
have  with  you  have  been  keeping  open  house  at  the 
Neck.  When  he  comes  home  he  has  been  wild  and 
drinking,  and  is  moody.  It  is  a  week  since  you  have 
been  away  from  your  home  and  wife  with  your  yacht 
anchored  here  off  shore,  hunting  and  cruising,  and 
such  times  at  the  old  Garrison  place  at  night — it  is 
the  talk!" 

Notely  laughed  and  rose.  Vesty  had  been  stand 
ing  looking  down  at  him  earnestly,  where  he  sat  in 
her  doorway:  she  held  her  baby  asleep  on  one  strong 
arm,  its  face  against  her  neck. 

Notely  turned  his  own  face  away  a  little,  jingling 
the  free  coin  in  his  pockets.  "  Why,  I  have  been 
making  money  on  my  own  account,  Mrs.  Gurdon 
Rafe,"  he  cried  gayly,  "since  I  opened  the  quarry. 
And  no  man,  nor  no  woman  either,  now  says  to  me, 
Do  this  or  do  that,  go  here  or  go  there.  From  all 
accounts,  moreover,  my  wife  and  mother  are  enjoy 
ing  themselves  extremely  well  as  ever  during  my 
absence.  As  for  Fluke  Rafe,  he  is  a  good  fellow, 
but  he  was  always  wild  as  a  hawk." 


134  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"O  Notely!  if  you  would  only  help  such  men, 
as  you  might,  instead  of  being  as  wild  as  a  hawk 
with  them!  " 

"It  takes  a  hawk  to  catch  a  hawk,  my  dear:  all 
the  ministers  will  tell  you  that." 

"  Is  that  what  you  are  doing  it  for?" 

"Well,  no;  since  you  are  a  Basin,  and  only  truth 
avails,  there  has  been  hitherto  no  deep  moral  design 
in  my  merry  orgies  at  the  Neck.  But  to-night, 
Vesty,  is  my  grand  affair;  to  be  hallowed  by  the 
presence  of  all  the  Basins:  my  feast  and  ball  to 
them,  you  know — my  oldest  and  best  friends.  And 
you — why,  Vesty,"  he  went  on,  in  another  tone, 
"  you  remember  we  had  always  a  dance  a  week  at 
the  Basin,  and  you  and  I  led  them  off  together. 
Come,  then,  for  the  sake  of  old  times  and  the  feel 
ing  of  the  rest,  though  you  may  enjoy  it  yourself  no 
more." 

He  spoke  with  reckless  meaning,  and  his  eyes,  that 
had  such  fatal  power  of  expression  in  them,  looked 
deep  into  hers.  She  paled;  the  baby  threw  up  a 
sleeping  hand  against  her  face. 

"There  is  another  thing,  Notely,"  she  said. 
"  Gurdon  does  not  like  it  that  you  come  here  for  an 
hour  or  more  every  day  to  sit  and  talk  alone  with 
me  while  they  are  at  the  fishing.  He  is  not  much 
to  suspect,  and  he  was  always  fond  of  you  and 
trusted  you;  but  it  is  not  doing  right  by  Gurdon." 

Her  eyes  looked  infinitely  sorrowful  into  his; 
blushes,  like  pain,  dyed  her  cheeks. 

"O  Vesty,  my  pure  one! — then  tell  me  that  you 


THE    MASTER    REVELLER  135 

love  me  still — love  me  as  you  used  to  do — and  I'll 
go  away  content,  and  not  come  any  more.  Touch 
my  head  as  you  used  to  do;  kiss  me  once  more,  with 
those  words,  and " 

The  baby's  white,  sleeping  palm  pressed  hard 
against  the  mother's  burning  cheek. 

"  Such  words  must  not  be  any  more,  Notely.  Go 
away  and  be  the  good,  powerful  man  God  meant  you 
to  be,  and  I  shall  love  you  more  than  I  ever  did  in 
my  life." 

"  Saint  Vesta!  I  have  lost  you!  "  said  Notely:  his 
voice  shook  with  passion;  the  thin,  strong  hand  that 
he  put  up,  as  if  shading  his  eyes,  hid  wild  and  angry 
tears. 

"  I  have  been  faithfully  engaged  in  the  career  to 
which  you  so  tenderly  and  considerately  dedicated 
me,"  he  went  on.  "  What  will  you  have  ?  I  worked 
last  winter  like  a  dog;  nothing  is  easy  won,  I  think: 
but  there  is  no  young  man  in  this  State  who  has 
been  so  flattered  with  public  notice  as  I.  I  am  mak 
ing  my  own  money — no  young  man  more  shrewdly, 
they  say.  What  will  you  have?  I  have  growing 
fame,  prosperity,  an  accomplished  society  woman 
for  my  wife.  Was  not  that  what  you  wished  for 
me  ? "  His  words  stung. 

Vesty  had  her  dim  look ;  she  had  turned  cold ;  her 
speech  groped  pitifully.  "  But  I  think  I  saw — I 
think  I  understood  a  little,  after  all — because  I 
loved  you — what  are  you  doing  it  for,  Notely?" 

"Ah,  there,  indeed! — what  for?  I  have  lost  my 
object,  you  know,  Saint  Vesta.  For  fame  and  frolic 


136  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

and  the  devil,  I  suppose — since  we  are  talking  face 
to  face  with  an  immortal  Basin — and  to  fill  up  the 
time  generally." 

"  I  am  glad  that  I  did  what  I  did,"  cried  the  poor 
girl,  her  tongue  touched  with  sudden  fire,  as  if  from 
outside  herself;  "you  loved  me  a  little,  but  you  did 
not  love  me  much!  " 

"Ah!"  he  caught  his  breath,  his  deep  eyes  thrilled 
her. 

"  If  you  had  loved  me  much — such  a  man  as  to  be 
true  to  me  through  hard  work  and  time  and  sorrow 
and  all — then  you  could  not  have  borne  to  be  any 
less  a  man,  Notely  Garrison,  though  you  lost  me,  or 
whatever  you  lost.  But  if  anything  could  turn  you 
from  that,  then  time  and  trial  and  all  would  have 
turned  you,  sooner  or  later,  to  be  unkind  and  un 
true  to  me.  I  know  it.  Before  God,  I  know  it! 
You  loved  me  a  little,  but  you  did  not  love  me 
much ! 

"I  am  glad,  for  your  sake  and  for  my  own,"  she 
said;  "  I  am  glad  that  I  did  not  marry  you." 

Then,  as  the  fire  flamed  out,  tears  of  despair 
rushed  to  her  eyes,  because  he  looked  as  though  she 
had  hurt  him  so — his  face  more  like  a  beautiful 
cameo  than  ever,  pure  and  sharp;  he  who  was  so  de 
bonair  and  generous  with  them  all,  genial  toward 
them  always,  and  familiar  with  the  simplest  and 
poorest.  She  longed  impulsively  to  take  him  to  her 
heart,  to  give  him  with  yearning  tenderness  the  one 
caress  he  had  pleaded  for:  but,  still  seeing  dimly 
where  he  was  blind,  she  would  not. 


THE    MASTER    REVELLER  137 

Notely  watched  that  struggle,  saw  the  impulse 
fade  upon  her  face  into  a  white  resolve;  watched 
her  keenly  meanwhile  with  tumultuous  hope. 

"  Vesty,  once  when  we  were  little  more  than  chil 
dren,  we  were  playing  on  Ladle  Rock  and  I  fell. 
You  did  not  leave  me,  frightened;  insensible  as  I 
was,  you  bathed  my  face  and  stayed  by  me.  When 
I  came  to  myself  my  head  was  in  your  lap.  You 
had  on  a  brown  cotton  frock,  made  in  an  old-woman 
ish  grave  fashion,  and  you  were  looking  down  at 
me.  From  that  moment  all  my  life  changed — who 
can  explain  it?  I  was  a  child  in  my  feeling  toward 
you  no  longer,  with  childish  thoughts.  I  loved  you — 
loved  you  as  I  love  you  now — but  you  have  robbed 
me  of  my  life." 

"No,"  she  said.  That  sad  fire  from  outside  her 
self  came  back  to  her.  "  You  have  only  been  denied 
one  pleasure  the  more  that  you  wanted,  and  that 
would  not  have  been  so  dear  to  you  long  if  you  had 
not  lost  it.  Life  is  above  that,  you  used  to  tell  me, 
but  you  have  forgotten." 

"Rather,  I  have  grown  wiser,"  he  said,  but  for 
the  instant  he  set  his  clear,  fine  face  away  from  her. 
"  It  is  a  distorted  notion  that  our  existence  here  is 
for  cold  denial,  from  however  pure  an  imagination. 
It  is  better  to  run  with  life,  to  follow  joyfully  the 
great  trend  of  nature." 

He  looked  at  her:  her  staid,  unreproachful  eyes, 
her  calm  and  holy  face,  smote  him. 

"My  pleasure-friends,  as  you  call  them,  say  that 
the  Basins  are  simple.  That  is  a  superficial  obser- 


138  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

vation;"  he  laughed  with  despair,  and  proceeded  to 
fill  his  pipe.  "  The  Basins  are  like  a  rock." 

"Notely,"  said  she  very  slowly  then,  "your  face 
is  dear  to  me  as  this  little  one  upon  my  breast;  it 
eats  into  my  heart. "" 

All  life's  sorrow  looked  through  her,  and  a  faith,  a 
purpose,  stronger  than  life.  Notely  cast  his  misery 
from  him  with  a  sigh ;  the  game  was  over. 

"Saint  Vesta,"  said  he  simply,  "I  have  lost  you; 
that  is  the  sad  fact,  and  I  accept  it.  Still,  since  you 
care  for  me  some,  I  shall  be  a  little  merry.  Come 
to  my  ball — Gurdon  promised  me  you  would  both 
come. " 


HOW    MIS'    GARRISON    ATE    CROW  139 


XIII 

CAPTAIN  LEEZUR  RELATES  HOW  MIS'  GARRISON 
ATE  CROW 

"Ix  's  said,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  who  sat  on  the 
log  fondly  applying  his  deer-bone  toothpick,  which 
had  been  restored  to  him  for  a  season,  "  't  ye  keep 
yer  mouth  shet,  and  ye  won't  eat  no  crow." 

His  smile  embraced  the  heavens,  as  the  source  of 
such  philosophy,  with  transcendent  admiration. 

''That  's  figgeral  language,  ye  know.  Have  a  nar- 
vine  lozenge.  I  all'asenj'ys  'em  with  a  friend  more'n 
what  I  dew  meltin'  on  'em  deown  alone." 

We  sucked  deliciously. 

"  Afore  I  got  my  dispersition  moderated  deown 
inter  the  shape  she  is  neow,  I  was  dreadful  kind  o' 
sly  and  ongodly  abeout  cuttin'  up  tricks,"  he  con 
tinued,  his  countenance  now  conveying  only  the 
tranquillity  of  one  restored  and  forgiven. 

"  Mis'  Garrison,  Notely's  mother,  she  was  all'as 
puttin'  on  airs  tew  the  Basins,  's  if  they  was  beneath 
her;  and  when  they'd  first  begun  to  live  over  there 
to  the  Neck,  she  sent  a  man  deown  t'  me,  't  said 
Mis'  Garrison  had  'ordered  '  a  pair  o'  partridge 


on  me. 

U    I 


What  ? '  says  I  to  the  man. 


140  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Mis'  Garrison  said  t'  order  a  couple  o'  par 
tridge  on  ye,'  says  he,  'an*  she  wants  'em  at  tew 
o'clock.' 

"'All  right,'  says  I;  'yew  go  home  an'  tell  her  't 
she  shall  have  that  'ere  order  filled  eout  complete,' 
says  I. 

"  So  I  went  eout  and  gunned  one  partridge  and 
one  old  crow,  't  had  been  ha'ntin*  my  corn  patch 
ever  senct-I  could  remember,  so  't  he  was  jest  as 
familiar  tew  me  as  the  repair  on  the  slack  o*  my 
britches,  and  I  dressed  'em  both,  dreadful  tasty  an' 
slick — they  was  jest  'beout  the  same  size  dressed — 
an'  rigged  'em  eout  esthetiky  with  some  strips  o' 
pink  caliker;  and  'long  at  the  'p'inted  time  the  man 
he  come  deown  arter  'em. 

"'Yew  tell  Mis'  Garrison,'  says  I,  "t  birds  is  so 
thick  'reound  my  premmuses  this  year  I  couldn't 
think  o'  chargin'  nothin'  for  'em,  'specially  to  an 
old  Basin  like  her!' 

"  For  in  them  days,  'fore  I  got  moderated,  I  didn't 
mind  p'intin'  hints  at  nobody,  or  weoundin*  their 
feelin's,  'specially  ef  it  jibed  along  in  with  playin' 
some  ongodly  trick  on  'em." 

The  joy  of  a  ransomed  soul  played  across  Captain 
Leezur's  features. 

"  Wai,  Notely  was  areound  a  day  or  tew  arter- 
wards — Notely  an'  me  was  great  mates — 'nd  says  I, 
'Heow'd  yer  mother  like  them  birds  I  sent  up  tew 
'er?'  says  I.  'Why,  one  on  'em  was  r'al  good, 
Uncle  Leezur, '  says  he,  'and  one  on  'em  '  " — Captain 
Leezur  glanced  cautiously  toward  the  house-door 


HOW    MIS*    GARRISON    ATE    CROW  141 

before  he  continued — '"one  on  'em  was  tough  as 
the  devil's  kite-string;  tough  as  a  d — d  old  crow!' 
says  he. 

"Wai,  I  made  it  up  to  Note  in  more  ways  'n  one, 
for  him  and  me  was  great  mates;  but  I  never  let  on 
'beout  that  pertickaler  mess  o'  birds.  Keep  yer 
mouth  shet,  ye  know,  and  ye  won't  eat  no  crow — 
that  is,  'less  somebody  's  been  play  in'  some  ongodly 
trick  on  ye." 

Captain  Leezur  never  laughed  aloud:  his  smile 
simply  widened  and  broadened  until  it  became  a 
scintillating  sun,  without  the  disgrace  of  cachin- 
nation. 

"  Neow  there  's  all'as  a  meanin'  in  figgeral  lan 
guage,"  he  continued,  "an'  when  Mis'  Garrison  got 
set  ag'inst  Note  and  Vesty's  marryin',  jest  'cause 
Vesty  was  poor  an'  a  Basin,  an'  setter  work  ter  break 
it  off  by  fair  means  or  by  feoul,  she  got  her  meouth 
open  for  a  good-sized  ondigestible  mess  o'  crow. 

"In  figgeral  language;  for  I  don't  reck'lect  jest 
the  exac'  date  when  she  did  r'a'ly  eat  crow;  'twas 
a,  good  many  years  ago,  'n'  I  wouldn't  have  her 
near  of  it  neow  for  nothin'.  I'm  natch'ally  ashamed 
o  them  ongodly  tricks  neow — 'nd  besides,  it'u'd  lay 
narder  on  her  stommick  'n  a  high-school  grammar." 

e:I  won't  tell  her,"  I  said.  "I'm  hardly  ac 
quainted  with  her,  anyway." 

"I'd  give  all  I've  got,  every  mite,  ef  it  c'd  help 
save  Note,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  a  tear  trickling 
down  his  sun-face.  "  All  things  is  good  ef  we  use 
'em  in  moderation;  but  we've  got  ter  use  modera- 


142  VESTV    OF    THE    BASINS 

tion,  in  eatin'  an'  drinkin',  an'  lobster  sallid — yes, 
an'  even  in  passnips.  Nothin'  '11  dew  but  the  same 
old  rewl,  even  in  passnips. 

"I  heered  voices  deown  to  the  shore  last  night," 
he  continued,  with  a  sort  of  yearning  confidence 
toward  me,  so  that  I  bent  my  ear  nearer,  with  some 
of  his  own  sorrow.  "  I  reckoned  one  on  'em  was 
Notely's  voice,  talkin'  and  larfin'  as  hilar'ous  as  cf 
'twas  sun-up.  So  I  went  deown  there,  and  there  was 
Note  and  one  o'  them  fellers  with  him,  each  on  'em 
with  a  stiff  tod  o'  whiskey  aboard,  a-pullin'  there  for 
dear  life,  an'  the  dory  anchored  fast  as  fast  could 
be  to  the  staple! 

"They  was  lookin'  for  lan'marks  and  pullin'  and 
sheoutin'  and  larfin' — 'twas  kinder  moonlight,  ye 
know — and  one  on  'em  says,  'Seems  ter  me  't  takes 
a  cussed  long  time  t'  git  to  the  Neck  to-night,'  says 
he.  I  sot  there  an'  watched  'em;  knew  'twouldn't 
do  'em  no  harm  t'  pull,  knew  'twas  doin'  'em  good 
an*  steadyin'  of  'em.  By  an'  by,  I  ups  an'  says, 
'Ship  ahoy! ' 

"'Hello!'  says  Note. 

"  'Why  don't  ye  weigh  anchor?  '  says  I. 

"Wai,  when  that  idee  come  deown  atop  of  'em,  ye 
never  see  a  couple  sobered  so  quick  as  they  was. 
They  giv'  three  cheers,  an'  nothin'  'd  dew  but  I  must 
git  into  the  dory  an"  go  up  to  the  Neck  with  'em. 

"Wai,  I  had  my  objec' ;  an'  when  they  took  me 
in  t'  treat  me,  the  rest  o'  Note's  company  was  settin' 
'reound  there,  an'  I  ups  an'  says,  'Jest  one  glass, 
an'  zl yew  takes  any  more  I  won't  tetch  even  that,' 


HOW    MIS      GARRISON    ATE    CROW  143 

says  I.  'Yew've  had  enough — tew  much,'  says  I. 
'Moderation  in  all  things,'  says  I,  'even  as  low 
deown  as  passnips. ' 

"  They  all  giv'  me  another  three  cheers;  but  they 
didn't  drink  no  more.  An'  nothin'  'd  dew  but  I 
must  set  deown,  an'  then  nothin'  'd  dew  but  I  must 
give  'em  my  views  on  moderation!  " 

Captain  Leezur  did  swallow  a  little  hard  with  the 
effort  not  to  appear  too  highly  flattered! 

"  So  I  sot  there  an'  giv'  'em  my  views  on  modera 
tion.  I  must  say  for  'em,  they  appeared  dreadful 
interested;  they  sot  kind  o'  leanin'  forrards,  with 
their  meouths  not  more  'n  harf — 'n'  sartin  not  more 
'n  a  quarter  ways — shet;  an'  when  I'd  got  through, 
they  giv'  me  another  reousin'  three  cheers  ag'in. 

"  They  told  me  all  abeout  Lot's  wife,  tew,"  said 
Captain  Leezur,  with  grateful  seriousness;  "they've 
been  great  travellers,  ye  know;  all  abeout  the  ap 
pearance  o'  that  location  where  she  sot,  an'  heow  it 
looked  arfter  she'd  got  up  an'  went,  an'  the  aspec's 
o'  Jaffy,  an'  all  them  interestin'  partickalers,  more'n 
what  I  ever  heered  from  anybody  afore." 

I  looked  at  Captain  Leezur  to  see  if  no  suspicion 
of  earthly  treachery  was  on  his  sun-blessed  visage. 
None. 

I  lifted  my  hat  with  a  nameless  reverence  too  deep 
for  words,  and  left  him,  still  smiling  upward. 


144  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


XIV 

"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET 

FLUKE  played,  with  the  dense  black  hair  tossing 
above  his  handsome  eyes,  but  Gurdon  with  a  calm 
brow,  though  he  too  loved  the  music  and  dancing. 

"Go  and  have  a  turn  with  Vesty  yourself,"  said 
Fluke;  "we'll  keep  up  fiddling,  change  about,  with 
the  organ." 

For  Notely,  studying  every  heart-throb  of  the 
Basins,  had  had  a  little  parlor  organ  brought  in  for 
the  night  and  put  up  in  place  of  his  piano;  at  it  sat 
Mrs.  Judah  Kobbe,  cousin  and  guest  of  the  Pharo 
Kobbes,  playing  with  such  lively  spirit  and  abandon 
that  the  very  lamps  danced  upon  the  organ-brackets 
in  untripping  time  with  the  feet  of  the  dancers  on 
the  floor. 

I  had  already  detected  in  the  tone  of  society 
toward  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judah  Kobbe  that  they  were 
awesome  cosmopolites  from  some  source.  I  now 
learned  that  they  were  from  a  crowded  mart  called 
Machias.  Captain  Pharo  also  told  me  mysteriously, 
in  the  pauses  of  his  pipe," 't  they  was  1'arneder  'n  any 
fish  't  swims;"  so  I  gazed  at  them  with  wonder  from 
a  distance,  but  did  not  much  dream  that  it  would  be 
for  me  to  speak  with  them. 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  145 

All  along  the  edges  of  the  floor  were  strewn  chil 
dren  and  babies,  comfortably  wrapped  and  laid  to 
sleep;  the  habit  of  the  Basins,  who  had  no  servants 
at  home  wherewith  to  leave  them. 

Notely  Garrison  had  led  the  dance  with  Vesty; 
now  she  sat  rocking  her  baby,  near  Gurdon,  who 
turned  to  them  with  a  smile  and  swept  a  softer  strain 
now  and  then,  as  when  he  played  them  to  sleep  at 
home. 

"Introduce  me  to  the  'mezzo-tint'  study  yonder, 
the  mediaeval  picture  over  there,  rocking  her  infant, 
back  of  the  fiddlers." 

Notely  slightly  turned  from  his  fellow-reveller, 
flushing. 

"  There  are  pretty  girls  enough  here  for  you  to 
dance  with,  Sid ;  she  would  not  like  it.  They  are  such 
simple  people  they  would  not  understand.  She  is 
married,  you  see." 

"You  danced  with  her." 

"  Oh,  I  am  an  old  friend." 

"  Tar-a-ta!  tar-a-ta!  "  went  Captain  Judah's  trum 
pet,  and  I  looked  up  to  see  what  new  event  its 
blast  denoted.  For  Captain  Judah  was  a  stage 
driver,  and  having  brought  his  horn  along  as  a  sig 
nal  compliment  to  the  occasion,  he  was  now  con 
ducting  the  first  stages  of  the  ball  with  those  loud 
flourishes  and  elegant  social  convenances  which  only 
those  sophisticated  by  extreme  culture  are  supposed 
to  understand. 

"Tar-a-ta!  tar-a-ta!  " 

I  saw  that  Vesty  and  Gurdon  had  risen  to  dance 

10 


146  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

together.  Vesty  wrapped  and  laid  her  sleeping  baby 
among  the  others,  and  Gurdon  stepped  out  to  per 
form  first  that  solitary  jig  or  shuffle  which  is  de 
manded  of  every  householder  among  the  Basins, 
before  he  can  lead  his  partner  to  the  dance. 

Notelyand  the  young  man  he  had  called  "Sid" 
watched  him  shaking  his  long  legs,  his  heavy,  noble 
face  perfectly  sincere  and  unembarrassed;  for  was  it 
not  the  ancient,  honorable  custom  of  the  Basins? 

"Stolid  cart-horse,  by  Jove!"  sneered  Sid,  casting 
a  glowing  glance  at  Vesty,  "  for  such  a  Venus!  " 

Notely  did  not  like  the  tone.  "There  's  some 
stolid  granite  in  my  quarry,"  he  snarled  softly ;  "but 
it  's  everlasting  good  granite,  all  the  same,  Sid." 

"You've  been  knocked  over,  I  see,"  said  the  irre 
pressible  Sid,  smiling  intelligently  at  him.  "Well, 
I'm  off  for  the  jig." 

"Tar-a-ta!  tar-a-ta!" 

The  trumpet  punctually  announced  the  appearance 
of  so  much  colorless  linen  and  broadcloth  on  the 
floor;  but  the  Basins,  who  were  fine,  gazed  at  his  se 
vere  costume  with  tender  pity. 

"Sid,"  appreciating  this,  dared  not  laugh:  he  en 
deavored  to  redeem  this  lack  of  beauty  by  a  display 
of  his  white  bediamonded  hand  on  his  watch-guard, 
as  he  entreated  a  partner  for  the  dance,  but  he  was 
not  held  for  much;  that  was  evident. 

Now  and  then  in  the  reel  he  touched  Vesty's  hand, 
or  swung  with  her,  and  he  stared  at  her  consistently 
and  immoderately  throughout;  but  always  for  him 
the  holy  lids  were  low  over  her  eyes. 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  147 

My  heart  exulted  something  like  the  next  blast  of 
the  trumpet;  I  turned  to  look.  Vesty  was  safe. 

"Tar-a-ta!  tar-a-ta!  " 

But  Captain  Pharo  needed  no  stirring  strain  to 
his  consciousness  as  he  walked,  with  scarcely  per 
ceptible  limp,  to  the  middle  of  the  floor. 

That  flowered  jacket,  the  arnica  bloom  glowing 
like  sunrise  on  the  back!  Those  new  trousers,  of 
"middling"  sacks,  "Brand  No.  i"  proudly  dis 
tinct  upon  the  right  leg! 

"Give  me  sea-room  here,  give  me  sea-room,"  said 
the  hero;  "and  jest  wait  till  I  git  my  spavins 
warmed  up  a  little!  " 

A  wide,  clear  swath  was  cut  from  the  billows  that 
surrounded  Captain  Pharo. 

"Now  then,"  said  he,  pulling  his  pipe  from  his 
pocket,  and  drawing  a  match  in  the  usual  informal 
way;  "Poo!  poo!  hohum! — • 

" '  My      days    are       as       the      grass,    Or        as — ' 

strike  up  somethin'  lively  over  there,  Gurd.  Give 
us  'The  Wracker's  Darter,'  by  clam!  " 

Gurdon,  who  had  returned  to  relieve  Fluke  at 
the  violin,  good-naturedly  struck  up  "The Wrecker's 
Daughter." 

"Can't  ye  put  a  little  sperrit  into  'er,  Gurd?  Is 
this  'ere  a  fun'al  ?  That  's  it!  Now  then — 'Touch 
and  go  is  a  good  pilot. ' ' 

With  these  words,  Captain  Pharo  sprang  with  ox- 
like  levity  from  the  floor,  and  amid  the  giddy  swift- 


148  VESTY   OF    THE    BASINS 

ness  of  the  music  I  was  occasionally  conscious  of 
hearing  his  mailed  heels  flow  together  with  a  clash 
that  made  the  rafters  ring.  He  descended  at  last 
ominously,  but  when  the  reverberations  died  away  I 
looked,  and  saw  that  he  was  whole. 

Notely  came  over  and  shook  hands  with  him,  laid 
an  arm  proudly  on  his  proud  shoulder,  and  led  him 
away  to  the  "mess"  room,  where  his  stewards  were 
busy. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo!  "  cried  a  voice  from  the 
fondest  of  the  Artichokes,  seizing  him  with  an  ex 
ultant  pride  which  he  affected  to  hide  under  deroga 
tory  language;  "was  that  you  I  seen  in  there  jest 
now,  stompin'  the  frescoes  off'n  the  ceilin'?" 

"Altogether  most  entertaining  jig  that  has  been 
danced  this  evening, "  said  one  of  Notely 's  broadcloth 
guests,  very  superciliously. 

"Oh,  I  hain't  danced  none  yit,"  said  Captain 
Pharo,  too  confident  to  show  contempt;  "only 
warmin'  my  spavins;  "  and  he  heartlessly  turned  the 
complete  flower  in  view  for  the  further  annihilation 
of  the  gentleman  in  black. 

"  Ef  I  c'd  'a'  got  on  my  scuffs,"  said  Captain 
Leezur,  his  sun-visage  showing  against  the  crimson 
back  of  an  easy-chair,  "  I  don't  know  but  what  I 
sh'd  been  'most  tempted  ter  jine  the  darnce  myself. 
But  no;  I  couldn't  pervail  with  'em — so  long  sence 
I've  wrarstled  with  'em — so  I  come  right  'long  in 
my  felts." 

"  No,  ye  can't  dance  'The  Wracker's  Darter,'  that 
is,  not  as  she  orter  be  danced,  in  felts,"  said  Captain 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  149 

Pharo;  "she  's  a  tune  't  wants  the  emphasis  brought 
right  down  onto  her;  felts  won't  do  it,  nor  scurfs 
neither." 

"That  off  foot  o'  mine  kind  o'  b'longs  to  the 
church,  anyway,"  said  Captain  Leezur  sweetly; 
"  has  for  years;  don't  pain  me  much  as  I  knows  on, 
but  she  ain't  seound:  if  t'other  one  starts  off  kind  o' 
skittish  she  's  sartin  to  hold  back " 

"  Ye'd  orter  be  thankful  't  ye  only  has  to  contend 
with  natch'al  diserbilities,"  interposed  Captain 
Pharo,  "  'n1  don't  have  any  o'  these  d — d  ructions 
played  on  ye." 

"Oh,  by  the  way,  what  are  'ructions'?"  inquired 
the  guest  of  supercilious  temperament. 

"Le*  me  see,"  said  Captain  Pharo;  "you're  the 
one  't  Note  said  was  from  Washin'ton,  ain't  ye? 
Wash  in' ton,  D.  C.  ? " 

"  Certainly." 

"P'litical  centre  o1  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
iky?" 

"Why,  yes." 

"An'  you  don't  know  what  ructions  be!  " 

Loud  laughter  greeted  this  sally;  only  the  man 
who  had  been  in  California  sat  moody,  his  basilisk 
eye  fixed  upon  me. 

"Then  I'll  tell  ye  what  ructions  be,"  proceeded 
Captain  Pharo,  breathing  stertorously  through  his 
pipe;  "it's  repealin'  all  our  optional  acts,  for  one 
thing!  We  can't  institoot  an  optional  act  down 
here,  but  what  you  go  an'  repeal  it!  " 

"Oh,  stuff!  "  said  the  high  and  hot-headed  young 


150  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

man,  quite  taken  off  his  level  by  the  laughter  round 
him;  "I  don't  either!" 

"  I  say  ye  do!  "  said  Captain  Pharo,  waxing  more 
and  more  wroth;  "ye  sets  some  feller  t'  work  there, 
't  never  see  salt  water,  t'  make  our  laws  for  us; 
'lows  us  to  ketch  all  the  spawn  lobsters  and  puts  in 
junctions  onter  the  little  ones:  like  takin'  people 
when  they  gits  to  be  sixteen  or  twenty  year  old,  'n' 
choppin'  their  heads  off — yer  race  is  goin'  to  multi 
ply  almighty  fast,  ain't  it?" 

"  I  hadn't  observed  any  lack  of  increase  in  your 
amiable  race,  sir." 

"Ye  hadn't,  hadn't  yer?"  said  Captain  Pharo,  in 
the  voice  of  a  smouldering  volcano,  laying  a  fresh 
match  to  his  pipe. 

"Moderation,"  liquidly  pealed  in  the  voice  of 
Captain  Leezur — "  moderation  's  the  rewl " 

"  'N'  I'll  tell  ye  of  another  optional  act  o'  ourn 
't  ye  repeals;  but  ye  can  tell  'em  't  we  git  it  jest  the 
same — though  it  's  racktified  'tell  it  's  p'ison. " 

"Ye  can't  all'as  git  it,  even  racktified,"  said 
Shamgar:  "  onct  when  the  boat  wa'n't  in  for  a  couple 
o'  weeks,  I  got  kind  o'  desp'rit  over  a  pain  in  my 
chist;  hadn't  nothin'  but  two  bottles  o'  'Lightnin' 
External  Rheumatiz  Cure,'  so  I  took  'em  straight. 
They  said  't  for  a  spell  thar'  I  was  the  howlin'est  case 
o'  drunk  they  ever  see." 

"The  wu'st  case  o'  'nebr'ancy  this  State  's  ever 
known,"  said  Captain  Dan  Kirtland,  "was  a  man  up 
to  Callis  jail,  't  had  been  'bleedged  to  take  a  spree 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  151 

on  'lemon  extract;'  he  sot  fire  t'  everything  he  could 
lay  his  hand  to." 

"  Look  a'  that,  will  ye  ?  "  said  Captain  Pharo  to  the 
haughty  Washington ian;  "yit  you  don't  know  noth- 
in*  'bout  ructions.  You  can  repeal  every  optional 
act  't  a  man  makes,  but  you  ain't  got  no  idee  o' 
ructions " 

Captain  Pharo's  voice  had  now  reached  such  a 
pathetic  and  eloquent  pitch  that  Captain  Judah  left 
his  trumpet  in  the  ball-room  and  joined  us,  in  time 
to  mingle  with  the  cheers  that  were  still  further  dis 
comfiting  the  high  and  hot-headed  young  man. 

"What  you  talkin'  about?"  retorted  the  latter 
through  his  dazzling  white  teeth.  "I'm  not  in 
politics." 

"  Why  didn't  ye  say  so,  then  ? "  said  Captain  Pharo 
calmly,  "and  not  keep  me  standin'  here  wastin'  my 
breath  on  ye?" 

"Moderation,"  sweetly  chimed  in  the  voice  of 
Captain  Leezur — "moderation  in  all  things,  even  as 
low  down  as  passnips. " 

The  man  who  had  been  in  California  had  been 
constantly  drawing  near  me,  but  Captain  Judah,  an 
ticipating  him,  was  already  at  my  side. 

"You're  a  stranger,"  said  he:  "perhaps  you  never 
heard  any  of  Angie  Fay — Angie  Fay  Kobbe's 
poetry  ?  " 

He  had  a  rosy  face:  in  spite  of  former  long  sea- 
wear,  not  blowzed,  but  delicately  tinted;  he  snuffled 
when  he  talked  in  a  way  which  I  could  only  define 


152  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

as  classical ;  and  it  was  admitted  that  his  nosegay 
vest  and  blue  coat,  as  far  as  tender  refinement  went, 
far  surpassed  anything  in  the  room. 

"  That  's  Angie  Fay  Kobbe,  my  wife,  at  the  organ. 
Ten  years  ago,  when  I  was  still  cruising,  I  found 
and  rescued  her  from  a  southern  cyclone!  " 

I  murmured  astonishment,  though  in  truth  some 
thing  of  a  cyclonic  atmosphere  still  hovered  about 
Mrs.  Kobbe,  not  only  in  her  method  of  performance 
on  the  organ,  but  in  her  sparkling  features,  young 
and  beautiful,  her  wide-flowing  curled  hair. 

"  How  old  does  she  seem  to  you  to  be,  sir  ? " 

"She  looks  to  me,"  I  said,  with  honesty,  "to  be 
eighteen  or  twenty — twenty-five  at  the  most. " 

"Sir,  she  is  forty!  "  said  Captain  Judah  proudly. 
Angie  Fay  shot  him  a  bewitching  glance  through 
the  open  door. 

"  She  is  not  only  a  skilled  performer  on  the  keys, 
as  you  see,  but  she  is  a  wide-idead  thinker.  If  it 
would  not  detain  you,  sir,  against  previous  inclina 
tion  to  the  ball-room,  I  should  like  to  read  you  some 
of  her  poetry. " 

Glances  too  oppressed  by  awe  to  contain  envy 
were  cast  upon  me  by  my  former  companions  from 
afar;  even  the  man  who  had  been  in  California  was 
retreating  in  baffled  dismay. 

"This  first,"  said  Captain  Judah,  drawing  a  roll 
from  his  pocket,  "though  brief,  has  been  called  by 
many  wide-idead  thinkers  a  'rounded  globe  of 
pathos: '  men,  strong  men,  have  wept  over  it.  It 
has  had  a  yard  built  around  it;  in  other  words,  it 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  153 

has   been    framed,   and    hung    in    many  a  bereaved 
household ;  let  me  read : 

"  '  Farewell,  my  husband  dear,  farewell  ! 
Adieu  !  farewell  to  you. 
And  you,  my  children  dear,  adieu  ! 
Farewell  !  farewell  to  thee  ! 
Adieu  !  farewell  !  adieu  ! ' 

"Were  you  looking  for  your  handkerchief,  sir?" 
"Yes,"  said  I,  accidentally  swallowing  whole  a 
nervine  lozenge  which  Captain  Leezur  had  given  me. 
"This,"  said  Captain  Judah,  with  an  expressive 
smile,  as  he  opened  another  roll,  "  if  you  will  excuse 
the  egotism,  refers  to  an  experience  of  my  own.  I 
was  once,  when  master  of  a  whaler,  nearly  killed  in 
a  conflict  with  a  whale;  in  fact,  I  am  accustomed 
to  speak  of  it  paradoxically — or  shall  I  say  hyper- 
bolically — as 'The  time  when  I  was  killed!'  My 
account  of  it  made  a  great  impression  upon  Angie ; 
but  I  will  read: 

"  '  Upon  the  deep  and  foaming  brine, 

My  Judah's  blood  was  spilled. 
The  anguished  tears  gush  from  my  eyes. 

0  Judah,  wast  thou  killed  ? 

"  '  Had  I  beheld  that  awful  scene, 

1  should  have  turned  me  pale, 
My  eyes  were  mercifully  hence, 

When  Judah  killed  the  whale. ' 

"  It  was  I,  so  to  speak,  that  was  killed,"  said  Cap 
tain  Judah,  with  his  peculiar  smile;  "the  whale  es 
caped.  But  for  the  sake  of  symphony,  Angie  has 


154  VESTY    OF    THE 

used  that  poetic  license,  familiar,  as  you  know,  to 
wide-idead  thinkers.  Or  let  me  read  you  this  -  " 

Dimmer  and  dimmer  grew  the  faces  of  my  former 
jovial  company;  but  I  had  one  friend,  stout,  even 
for  this  emergency. 

I  heard  a  voice  coming  — 


41  '  Or        as        the     morn  -  ing    flow'r,  The    blight  —  ' 

Judah!  Judah!  Judah!  drop  'er,  I  say,  an'  come 
along!"  Captain  Pharo  winked. 

"On  some  other  occasion,  sir,"  said  Captain 
Judah,  returning  the  roll  to  his  pocket  with  cheerful 
haste,  "I  shall  be  happy." 

Almost  before  I  was  aware  that  I  was  liberated, 
the  shifty  spectre,  whose  basilisk  eye  had  not  re 
leased  me,  stood  at  my  side. 

"You  oughter  have  seen,"  he  began,  "the  time  't 
I  was  killed  in  Californy  -  " 


J U 


'"The  blighting  wind  sweeps  o'er,  she  with-' 

Major!  major!  major!  drop  'er,  I  say,  an'  come 
along,  by  clam! " 

There  was  naught  to  do,  in  Captain  Pharo's  ex 
alted  frame  of  mind,  but  to  follow  the  commanding 
flower;  but  when  that  had  become  once  more  con 
genially  distracted  I  returned  to  the  ball-room  to 
observe  there. 

The  dancers  were  at  rest,  and  Angie  Fay  too,  the 
stewards  serving  them  with  refreshments;  but  Fluke 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  155 

and  Gurdon  were  playing  softly  together  on  their 
violins,  Fluke  with  waved  hair  on  his  forehead, 
Gurdon  with  still  brow.  Vesty  had  taken  up  her 
sleeping  child  and  was  holding  him.  The  Basins 
loved  sad  music,  low,  mournful  lullabys  on  the  wind; 
they  listened. 

I  listened  so  deeply,  so  strangely,  it  was  like  the 
awaking  from  a  dream  when  I  heard  Notely  and  his 
guests  inviting  the  dancers  again  to  the  floor. 

"Good-night,  major,"  Vesty  whispered  kindly, 
coming  to  me.  She  had  her  shawl  wrapped  over 
herself  and  her  infant,  and  was  departing  quietly 
with  her  father-in-law,  Captain  Rafe. 

"  I — I  didn't  get  one  eye-beam  from  her  the  whole 
evenin* — no,  by  Jove!  Note,"  said  "Sid,"  watching 
that  gently  retreating  figure;  "not  one!  And  she 
just  now  leaned  over  and  showered  a  whole  peck  of 
'em  on  that  poor  little " 

"Hush!  "  said  Notely. 

I  witnessed  with  some  sadness  how  Captain  Pharo 
and  Captain  Judah  were  walking  the  room,  arm-in 
arm,  Captain  Judah  reading  from  some  of  Angie 
Fay's  most  affecting  strains,  and  Captain  Pharo 
willingly  melted  to  tears  thereat. 

"Read  that  ag'in,  Judah,"  I  heard  Captain  Pharo 
snivel,  as  they  were  passing  me. 

Then  I  heard  the  melodramatic  snuffle  of  that 
"Adieu!  farewell!  adieu!" 

Still  farther  down  the  room  sobs  were  echoed  back 
to  me  from  Captain  Pharo's bursting  heart. 

So  that  I  was  gratified,  at  the  next  round,  to  hear 


156  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Captain  Pharo  declare  that  he  felt  the  necessity  of 
going  home  at  once  to  have  a  copy  of  the  verses 
made  and  "a  ya-ard  built  around  'em,  Judah. " 

Most  of  the  Basins  had  gone;  there  were  still 
some  of  the  prettiest  girls  upon  the  floor,  not  with 
proper  Basin  escort,  but  with  Notely's  broadcloth 
guests,  who  were  whispering  sweet  words  of  adula 
tion  to  tingling,  unaccustomed  ears. 

"  Come !  "  Gurdon  whispered  to  Fluke ;  "  we  should 
give  up  playing  at  this  hour,  and  take  those  girls 
home." 

Fluke  shook  his  head.  "Go  home,  you, "he  said: 
"  one  fiddle  is  enough !  If  we  want  a  merry  time, 
don't  bother." 

Gurdon  stayed  patiently,  but  with  a  brow  waxing 
determined.  The  flattered  girls,  the  broadcloth 
guests  cast  unwelcome  glances  at  him. 

"  Go  home,  Gurd !  "  said  Fluke,  at  last.  "  You 
spoil  it  all  with  a  face  like  that.  Go  on,  and  don't 
mind  us,  or  you  and  I  shall  quarrel." 

"  Not  till  those  girls  are  ready  to  be  taken  home," 
said  Gurdon. 

Fluke  threw  down  his  fiddle  with  an  oath.  "  I 
said  that  you  and  I  should  quarrel." 

"I  would  not  strike  my  twin-brother  for  all  the 
false  men  and  foolish  girls  in  Christendom!  "  said 
Gurdon,  standing  before  Fluke's  threat,  with  folded 
arms,  and  such  a  look  at  him  that  Fluke  came  to 
himself,  wincing. 

"  We  may  as  well  go  home,"  he  said  sulkily. 

The  young  men  of  the  world  watched  this  scene 


"TAR-A-TA!"  OF  THE  TRUMPET  157 

with  amusement  not  untempered  with  choler,  while 
they  proceeded  elaborately  to  assist  the  pretty  Basins, 
who  were  wrapping  themselves  in  their  thin  shawls. 

"  I  fancy  we  are  not  to  be  trusted  to  escort  these 
young  ladies  home?"  said  "  Sid,"  with  an  elegant 
sarcastic  inclination  toward  Gurdon. 

"No,"  said  poor  Gurdon  stonily.  For  he  had 
played  for  them  with  a  gracious  heart  all  the  even 
ing,  and  it  was  hard  to  be  hated.  But  he  marshalled 
his  flock  away  without  flinching. 


158  VESTV    OF    THE    BASINS 


XV 
THE  BROTHERS 

"  THERE  's  got  to  be  a  new  deal  to  me  in  this  world 
pretty  soon,"  said  Wesley,  "or  I  shall  kick." 

I  found  him  among  the  clam  flats,  leaning  his 
spent  and  hopeless  being  on  his  rake. 

"  What  is  it,  Wesley  ?  " 

"Belle  O'Neill  got  me  to  help  her  set  a  trap  to 
ketch  a  mink  and  a  fox;  she  said  we  should  git  two 
dollars  apiece;  and  we  caught — we  caught  Miss 
Fray's  tom-cat! " 

Wesley  rubbed  his  grimy  hand  across  his  eyes. 

"  She  scolded  awful  and  told  us  to  go  down  to  the 
clam  flats  and  not  to  come  home  till  we'd  got  two 
bushels  o'  clams  for  the  hens.  Fast  as  I  get  a  roller 
full  and  go  over  and  emp'y  'em  on  the  bank  the 
crows  come  'n'  eat  'em  up — look  a'  there!  " 

I  saw. 

"Wesley,  your  load  does  seem  greater  than  you 
can  bear."  He  wore  trousers  of  a  style  prevalent 
among  the  Basins,  of  meal  sacks;  only  his  were  not 
shaped  at  all — there  was  simply  a  sack  for  each  leg, 
tied  with  gathering  strings  at  the  ankles.  His 
jacket  was  as  much  too  small  for  his  stout  little 
person  as  his  trousers  were  voluminous;  and  Miss 


THE    BROTHERS  159 

Pray,  who  was  artistic  by  freaks,  had  made  it  with 
an  impertinent  little  tail  like  a  bird's  tail. 

Wesley  was  not  only  afflicted,  he  was  ludicrous  in 
the  face  of  high  heaven. 

"There  's  got  to  be  a  new  deal,"  blubbered  he, 
with  his  fist  in  his  eyes,  "or  I  shall  kick." 

"Could  you  kick  in  those  trousers,  Wesley?"  I 
said. 

He  regarded  me  curiously,  then  replied  with  evi 
dent  faith:  "I  could,  nights." 

"Ah!  I'm  so  lame  that  I  couldn't  even  kick 
much,  nights,  Wesley." 

His  countenance  changed  from  its  self-pity;  he 
removed  the  fist  from  his  eyes.  "I've  always  won 
dered,"  he  said,  "  't  you  didn't  kick  more." 

"Where  is  Belle  O'Neill?" 

"  I  told  'er  't  she'd  got  me  to  set  the  trap,  'nd  she 
orter,  't  least,  keep  the  crows  off'n  the  clams;  but 
she  went  over  to  Lunette's  and  borrowed  the  book,  'n* 
she's  settin'  there  in  the  graves,  where  Miss  Pray 
can't  see  her,  readin'  it." 

I  sighed  to  think  how  early,  among  his  other 
trials,  Wesley  was  learning  the  frailties  of  the  lov 
able  sex. 

"  I  will  go  up  and  keep  the  crows  off  of  the  clams 
for  you,  Wesley." 

"I  think,"  said  Wesley  innocently,  his  face  ex 
pressing  a  kindlier  gratitude  than  his  words  con 
veyed,  "  't  you  could  scare  'em  off  first-rate!  " 

While  I  reclined  on  the  green  bank,  not  far  from 
the  clams,  a  solemn  and  fearful  reprehension  to  the 


l6o  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

crows,  I  heard  Belle  O'Neill's  voice  reading  to  her 
self  aloud  among  the  graves.  The  Basins  possessed 
but  one  secular  volume,  which  they  were  accustomed 
to  lend  from  house  to  house,  and  which  was  desig 
nated  without  confusion  as  "the  book." 

Belle  O'Neill,  peeping  out  from  the  graves,  saw 
me,  and  came  forward,  blushing  timidly.  Wesley 
rose  from  the  clam  flats  and  hissed  at  her  for  her 
treachery,  but  she  was  very  fair,  and  I  received  her 
kindly. 

"Major  Henry,"  said  she,  "will  you  show  me 
what  this  means,  please?" 

She  sat  down  close  to  me — for  nobody  minded 
me — and  put  her  finger  on  the  place. 

Now  "  the  book,"  though  jointly  purchased  by  the 
Basins  from  a  travelling  salesman,  as  a  highly  illumi 
nated  volume,  promising  much  of  a  lively  nature, 
had  turned  out  to  be  to  an  altogether  unexpected  de 
gree  serious  and  didactic. 

I  followed  Belle  O'Neill's  finger. 

"  Impressive  Lesson. 
Perishableness!  " 


"What  does  it  mean?"  said  the  girl,  with  pale, 
inquiring  lips. 

Now  as  I  loved  the  courtly  valor  of  my  race,  I 
laughed. 


THE    BROTHERS  l6l 

"You  do  not  understand  those  long  words,  Belle. 
It  means,  in  those  peculiar  words,  something  about 
a  Jack-o'-lantern." 

"Oh,"  said  Belle,  gazing  at  it  with  sudden  re 
freshment,  "  I  guess  it  's  the  only  funny  one  in  the 
book!  They're  usually  so  solemn." 

We  turned  to  the  next  page: 

"  Important  Lesson. 

Discontent. 

The   Bachelor's   Button   that  wanted  to  be  a  sun 
flower:  the  scow  that  wanted  to  be  a  schooner." 

"Why,"  said  Belle,  with  her  finger  on  the  cut  of 
the  angry  and  resentful  bachelor's  button  that  was 
throwing  down  its  petals  because  it  could  not  be  a 
sunflower — "why  did  it  want  to  be  a  sunflower?" 

"I  can't  imagine,"  I  said. 

"Wouldn't  you  just  as  soon  be  a  bachelor's  button 
as  a  sunflower?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  I  murmured;  but  while  I 
affected  still  to  be  pondering  this  subject  doubtfully, 
Wesley  came  up  from  the  clam  flats. 

He  pointed  to  the  cut  on  the  opposite  page: 

"  Warning  Lesson. 
Slothfulness. " 

A  plump  and  evidently  highly  contented  maiden 
was  here  represented  as  lolling  on  a  sofa. 

'T  means  lazy.  She  looks  jest  like  Belle 
O'Neill,  don't  she?"  said  Wesley,  grinning  mali 
ciously. 


1 62  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Who" — flamed  up  Belle  O'Neill— "put  straws 
into  the  cow's  teats,  an'  let  the  milk  run,  while  he 
laid  out  on  the  grass  an'  slep',  and  Miss  Pray  found 
it  out  and  flailed  him  with  the  broomstick?" 

Wesley's  grin  froze  on  his  features;  he  returned 
wearily  to  his  rake. 

"  Comforting  Lesson. 

A  saint  walking  among  the  saved,  on  Revival 
Terrace. " 

But  the  saint,  though  tall  and  bearded,  wore  a  ball 
dress  such  as  the  unchastened  belles  of  society  sport 
upon  earth,  a  profuse  skirt,  with  flashing  train;  and 
he  was  walking  quite  alone. 

"Where  are  the  'saved'  ?"  said  Belle,  with  ghastly 
hope. 

"They  are  just  around  the  corner,"  said  I  cheer 
fully;  "  where  that  suggestion  of  clouds  is — see!  " 

"  N-no,  but  I  guess  they  are.  Ain't  he  the  look- 
in'est  thing  you  ever  saw?" 

"Quite  the  lookin'est!  " 

Belle  giggled.  I  bore  her  out  in  it  sympatheti 
cally. 

Wesley,  who  observed  how  we  were  at  least  keep 
ing  the  crows  off  of  the  clams,  smiled  upon  us  with 
feeble  indulgence. 

But  as  we  read  on,  Belle  did  come  to  a  lesson  of 
such  useful  terror  that  she  decided  to  take  her  rake 
and  assist  Wesley  among  the  flats. 

I  approved  her,  and  lay  back,  smiling,  in  the 
sun. 


THE    BROTHERS  163 

I  heard  Wesley's  little  old  voice  pipe  up,  consid 
erately:  "You'll  scare  'em  jest  as  well  if  you  do  go 
to  sleep,  major." 

I  kept  on  smiling.  The  sun  seemed  a  lake  of 
glory  and  I  a  boatman,  fair  and  free,  sailing  vast 
distances  upon  it  with  just  one  stroke  of  my  wand- 
oar — and  here  I  began  to  scare  the  crows  uncon 
sciously. 

The  air  of  the  Basin  anon  exhilarated  one,  anon 
soothed  one  into  wondrous,  deep,  peace-drunken 
slumber. 

When  I  awoke  Vesty  stood  over  me,  calling  me. 

There  was  a  purple,  dark  sky — now  but  little  after 
mid-day — flowing  with  red  at  the  edges  like  a  sun 
set;  the  wind  was  blowing  strong.  It  was  dark,  yet 
all  was  distinct  about  me.  I  sprang  to  my  feet  with 
a  sort  of  solemn  exultation  and  bared  my  head. 

"Wake,  major,  wake!"  Vesty  cried  to  me.  She 
drew  me  and  pointed  out  to  sea.  "  Notely's  boat — 
it  was  trying  to  make  home — it  is  on  the  reefs." 

I  saw  it  then  by  a  flash  of  that  unearthly  light,  the 
wind  descending  like  the  last  of  days.  I  hastened 
with  Vesty  to  the  low  beach,  where  the  people  were 
moving  strangely,  looking  out  on  the  sea  with  its 
swift-crested  breakers. 

From  the  yacht,  beating  helpless  on  the  ledges, 
Notely  and  the  few  who  had  sailed  with  him  that 
morning  were  putting  out  the  life-boat;  but  Captain 
Rafe  kept  running  his  weather-stained  hand  down 
his  white  face,  his  head  shaking. 

"  Bare   chance  t'  save  half  of  'em  in  the  gale— 


164  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

they'll  swamp  her:  nay,  nay,  they'll  never  get  her 
home  with  that  freight;  and  it 's  no  sea — it  's  a  her- 
ricane,  above  and  below.  I  see  the  sky  in  broad 
day  like  that  but  once  before,  and  then " 

His  voice  was  hushed,  the  boat  was  off,  was  lost; 
then  once  again  we  saw  her;  we  felt  the  gale  rush 
ing;  when  we  could  see  again,  there  were  a  few 
struggling  in  the  waves,  a  few  climbing  back  upon 
the  sinking  masts  of  the  vessel,  with  wild  signals. 

The  little  Basin  boats  were  old  and  frail;  only 
Gurdon  had  lately  been  building  a  new  fishing-boat. 
While  we  were  looking  off  he  had  been  hauling  it 
down  the  steep  bank  by  the  cottage. 

Now  when  we  saw  him  Vesty  ran  to  him  and  put 
the  child  in  his  arms  and  clung  to  him.  I  saw  a 
great  light  come  over  his  face. 

"Gurd,  "said  his  father  sternly,  the  old  stained 
hand  still  stroking  his  white  face,  "ye  have  strength 
and  skill  above  the  most — but  look  at  yon!  Put  up 
your  boat,  lad ;  it  's  no  use.  Moreover,  there  are  five 
men  yonder  on  the  masts — your  boat,  tested  in  an 
ordinar'  sea,  holds  but  five  alone!  " 

"Will  ye  go  out  jest  to  give  them  another  chance 
to  wrack  themselves,  and  ye  put  yerself  by  to 
drown?"  said  another,  with  a  trembling,  half-fero 
cious  laugh.  "  Look  to  yer  wife  and  child.  Don't 
be  a  fool !  " 

"  There  's  not  one  o'  ye,"  cried  Gurdon,  "  but  if  ye 
had  a  boat  fit  'u'd  do  all  ye  could,  an'  men  sinkin' 
and  a-wavin'  ye  like  that — let  me  off!  There  's  no 
other  way " 


THE    BROTHERS  165 

His  voice  broke.  He  looked  at  his  wife  and 
child,  a  look  the  woman  understood  for  all  eternity. 

Vesty  stood  like  marble;  her  shawl  had  escaped 
from  her  own  throat,  but  was  warm  about  the  child 
that  Gurdon  had  placed  back  on  her  breast. 

As  we  waited,  watching,  transfixed,  Fluke  came 
running  breathless  from  the  woods  where  he  had 
been  as  gnide  with  the  party  of  Notely's  pleasure- 
seekers  who  had  stayed  behind  that  morning. 

Captain  Rafe  ran  to  him,  with  the  hand  still 
stroking  his  pallid  face:  "That  was  Gurdon  out 
there,  making  so  near  the  sinking  boat — he  would 
go — only  five " 

But  Fluke  heard  never  a  word.  He  saw;  his  face 
flushed  with  a  kind  of  mad  joy;  he  tossed  his  hair 
back,  and  leaping  into  the  waves,  swam  to  his  own 
frail  little  fishing-boat  that  was  tossing  at  anchor. 

His  voice  leaped  back  to  us  above  the  tumult  of 
the  wind:  "  Gurd  and  me'll  come  home  together!  " 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  gale;  the  five  were  put  off 
from  the  sinking  craft  in  Gurdon's  boat. 

And  the  men  were  standing  with  ropes  on  the 
shore;  but  I  only  saw,  as  the  tempest  moaned,  to 
swell  again,  one  figure  on  a  bending  mast,  between 
sea  and  sky,  and  one  in  a  frail  shell  toiling  toward 
him. 

The  tempest  fell  and  smote.  Then  did  nothing 
seem  to  me  fated  underneath  those  awful  heavens,  but 
grand  and  free;  freest,  mightiest  of  all  that  figure 
imprisoned  between  storm  and  cloud,  overwhelmed, 
buried -triumphant,  imperishable!  Then  did  the 


1 66  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

dead  that  I  had  known  come  forth  and  walk  upon  the 
waves  before  me:  and  I  beheld  that  they  were  not 
dead,  but  glorious  and  strong — that,  rather,  I  was 
dead. 

Then  all  seemed  black  about  me.  I  would  have 
clutched  at  somewhat,  but  I  felt  a  cold  hand  grasp 
mine  in  appealing  agony.  They  brought  in  with 
ropes  through  the  breakers  the  five  men  who  had 
neared  the  shore  in  the  young  sailor's  new  fishing- 
boat. 

But  the  "Twin  Brothers,"  the  sublime  figure  on 
the  mast,  the  toiling  figure  in  the  boat,  had  ''gone 
home  together! " 


THE    POPLAR    LEAVES    TREMBLE  167 


XVI 
THE  POPLAR  LEAVES  TREMBLE 

IT  was  Vesty's  hand  that  had  wrung  mine.  Cap 
tain  Rafe,  after  he  lost  his  sons,  hardly  spoke 
without  drawing  his  own  trembling  hand  along  his 
piteous  face. 

"  Notely  fell  from  the  mast  and  was  stunted;  they 
put  him  in  the  boat:  else  he  wouldn't  'a'  come  and 
left  my  Gurd,  I  b'lieve. "  Tears  rolled  down  his 
cheeks. 

Vesty  spoke  to  me  so  softly,  as  if  her  head  were 
turned,  or  she  were  wandering  in  a  dream.  "  When 
Gurdon  had  anything  that  anybody  needed,  and  they 
asked  him  for  it,  he  always  gave  it  them.  So  they 
asked  him  for  his  life — and  he  gave  that!  " 

Notely,  on  recovering  consciousness,  had  been 
carried  to  his  house  at  the  Neck:  by  the  next  morn 
ing  they  had  his  mother  with  him;  he  was  in  a  fever. 

Would  Vesty  remember  now  the  promise  she  had 
asked  of  Mrs.  Garrison? 

At  all  events,  the  sick  man  babbled  deliriously  of 
past  days,  had  fallen  from  the  rock  once  more,  and 
would  have  Vesty  to  nurse  him:  "where,"  asking 
ever,  "  is  Vesty?" 


l68  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Mrs.  Garrison  herself  went  to  her,  pleading  his 
pain  and  danger.  Vesty  came. 

"  Hello!  we're  saved! — the  Vesty!  "  cried  Notely, 
whose  fever  had  been  plunging  him  in  cold  sea- 
waves,  his  voice  a  feeble  echo  of  its  old  gay  tone,  as 
he  put  up  his  hand  to  her. 

So  ashy  and  sunken  was  his  face,  Vesty  took  him 
on  her  arm  as  she  would  her  child;  he  fell  asleep. 

"Vesty  stops  the  pain — no  one  lifts  me  like  Vesty 
— sing,  Vesty!  "from  pathetic  lips  and  wandering 
blue  eyes  that  would  die  if  one  recalled  them  to  their 
sorrow. 

"Only  stay,"  said  Mrs.  Garrison.  "His  life 
hangs  upon  it.  Surely  you  are  not  afraid  to  have 
your  child  with  me?  " 

Her  heart  was  full  of  tenderness  for  the  girl.  "  I 
would  die  rather  than  anything  should  happen  to 
your  child,  Vesty,"  she  cried,  with  a  sincere  impulse. 

Vesty  lifted  those  Basin  eyes. 

"  Oh,  he  is  not  old  enough  yet  to  understand  my 
worldliness,"  said  Mrs.  Garrison,  with  bitter  lips. 

For,  from  entrusting  the  child  at  first  to  her  ser 
vants,  while  Vesty  was  in  the  sick-room,  Mrs.  Gar 
rison  had  grown  to  have  a  jealous  care  for  him 
herself.  He  had  taken  an  occasion,  and  he  had 
conquered  her. 

When  she  pleased  him  he  dimpled  and  gave  her, 
on  appeal,  an  ostentatious  kiss,  composed  wholly  of 
noise  and  vanity.  When  she  first  displeased  him  he 
had  tried  conclusions  with  her  by  unhesitatingly  ad 
ministering  a  slap  on  the  face. 


THE    POPLAR    LEAVES    TREMBLE  169 

Mrs.  Garrison,  the  select  and  haughty,  tingling 
from  this  direct  Basin  blow,  watched  the  flame  die  out 
of  the  baby's  eyes,  in  aston-ishment,  not  in  anger. 
The  blow  felt  good  to  her.  Vesty  treated  her, 
though  unconsciously,  from  such  a  height. 

"My  darling,"  she  said  sorrowfully,  lifting  the 
child  in  her  arms,  "  would  you  hurt  me,  when  I  love 
you  so  ?  " 

A  bit  of  sugar  sealed  the  reconciliation:  while  he 
devoured  it  little  Gurdon  leaned  his  head  in  tender 
remorse  upon  Mrs.  Garrison's  neck.  She  had  hand 
some  eyes — for  him,  full  only  of  love  and  longing — 
and  he  saw  strange  tears  in  them.  He  never  treated 
her  again  to  corporeal  punishment;  while  she,  on 
her  part,  indulged  him  fully. 

The  attachment  was  so  marked  between  them  that 
he  would,  when  he  was  well  and  had  dined,  very 
cheerfully  leave  Vesty  for  her  society,  to  Vesty 's 
secret  chagrin  and  Mrs.  Garrison's  beating  heart  of 
joy. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  will  take  the  child 
back  again — back  to  that  squalid  home — yes,  for 
such  it  is,  Vesty — that  you  will  deprive  him  of  all 
that  might  be,  and  give  him  up  to  a  fisherman's 
wretched  life  and  dreary  fate?" 

"Will  you  make  a  better  man  of  him  in  the  world 
than  his  father  was? "  said  Vesty  simply. 

"You  know  that  I  worship  Gurdon  Rafe's  mem 
ory,"  cried  Mrs.  Garrison,  with  adroit  heat.  "What 
do  you  think  would  please  him  best  for  his  wife  and 
child — misery  and  cold  with  an  old  man  who  could 


170  VESTY  OF  THE  BASINS 

have  a  better  home  among  his  own  kin,  had  he  not 
to  make  the  effort  to  support  you — or  happiness  and 
warmth  and  love,  and  a  great  sphere  of  usefulness, 
happiness,  and  education  for  his  child?" 

"You  see,"  said  Vesty,  on  the  plain  Basin  path, 
"  in  trying  to  get  those  things  we  might  miss  the 
only — the  greatest — thing,  that  Gurdon  had.  I'd 
rather  my  boy  should  learn  to  have  that,  and  miss  all 
the  others." 

"O  my  dear!  you  shall  teach  your  child,  you 
shall  be  always  with  him.  I  have  some  things  to 
remember  and  regret,  Vesty.  I  promise  you  sol 
emnly — and  I  do  not  break  my  word — I  will  not  in 
terfere.  You  shall  teach  and  guide  your  child  as 
you  will." 

Notely  was  awake  and  calling. 

"Go  to  him,"  said  Mrs.  Garrison,  excitement  in 
hereyes;  "he  will  explain  to  you,  my  child."  There 
was  a  tenderness,  a  hope,  a  voluptuousness  of  sweet 
earthly  things  in  her  manner  toward  the  poor  girl 
now,  which  all  her  life  Vesty  had  missed. 

Heart  and  flesh  were  weary,  and  Notely,  who  had 
been  the  light  of  her  life  once,  looked  up  at  her  with 
that  weight  of  sorrow,  so  much  darker  and  heavier 
than  her  own;  so  much  heavier  because  it  was  dark. 

"  Help  me  to  bear  it!  "  he  said. 

She  understood  all;  she  laid  her  head  beside  him, 
sobbing. 

"Vesty,  you  know  the  doctors  say  that  I  shall 
live;  but — now  that  I  am  sane  again,  I  do  not  know 
why  I  should  wish  to  live." 


THE    POPLAR    LEAVES    TREMBLE  171 

She  put  her  hand  on  his.  Alas!  in  spite  of  reck 
less  wandering  and  tragedy,  and  forsaken  faith  and 
duty,  the  touch  only  thrilled  him  with  his  own 
dreams  as  of  old. 

"  Listen,  Vesty ! — just  as  you  used  to  be  my  little 
woman  and  reason  with  me.  Ugh!  how  weak  I  am! 
I'm  not  worth  saving.  It  is  of  little  consequence, 
truly;  but,  such  as  it  is,  it  all  lies  with  you.  Some 
time,  Vesty — I  am  speaking  of  what  must  be  some 
time,  dearest;  and  remember,  it  is  often  done  in  the 
world,  among  those  who  are  highest  and  richest  and 
socially  recognized — well,  it  is  a  familiar  thing:  as 
soon  as  it  can  be  well  arranged — and  that  soon,  now — 
my  wife  and  I  shall  be  divorced.  We  have  both 
wished  it,  we  are  unhappy  together,  it  is  a  wrong 
for  us  co  live  together.  She  has  been  untrue  enough 
to  me,  as  I  to  her,  but  let  that  pass;  such  things  are 
not  for  your  ears  to  hear,  only  you  need  have  no 
qualms.  Grace  will  be  more  congenially  wedded 
within  two  months  after  we  are  parted. 

"And  then — Vesty?  Well,  will  you  not  speak  to 
me?  Is  it  to  be  life  and  honor,  with  your  love  at 
last,  or  despair  and  death?  You  were  promised  to 
me  once.  In  spite  of  all,  you  cannot  hold  your 
self  your  own;  you  are  mine;  the  wife  God  meant 
for  me.  O  Vesty!  let  us  blot  out  the  confused  past 
with  all  its  mistakes!  It  is  killing  me — will  kill 
me  body  and  soul  if  you  leave  me  now.  Let  me 
find  my  lost  home  at  last:  let  me  rest  a  little  while 
before  I  die! " 

His   weak  and   gasping   breath   warned   her;    she 


172  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

stilled  his  hands,  the  low  lids  hiding  the  anguish  in 
her  eyes. 

So  there  was  a  way  out  of  it  all,  easy,  luxu 
rious,  convenient  for  the  passions!  And  there  was 
a  straight  Basin  way,  a  high  promise  before  God 
and  man,  that,  to  the  Basin  sense,  there  was  no  tak 
ing  back :  Vesty  could  not  see  upon  any  other  road ; 
she  shuddered. 

But  Notely's  wasted,  broken  life  clinging  to  her! 

"  That  was  never  done  among  the  Basins,  Notely. 
When  we  are  married  we  promise,  and  we  hold  to  it 
till  death.  It  would  never  seem  to  me  that  I  was 
your  wife,  but  wicked  and  false  to  you  and  her — 
always  that.  I  would  rather  die!  " 

"  My  Vesty,  the  Basin  is  a  little,  little  part  of  the 
world,  and  ignorant  of  life.  I  tell  you  what  is  right. 
You  used  to  have  faith  in  me — so  much  that,  if  you 
would,  you  might  still  believe  in  me  and  my  cease 
less  love  for  you.  Do  you  think  that  I  will  ever 
leave  you  here?  My  mother  wants  you  and  the 
child:  we  will  be  happy  together  at  last,  with  such 
quiet  or  such  pleasures  as  you  will.  My  quarries 
are  turning  out  wealth  for  me — it  is  for  you  and 
Gurdon's  child.  Think  of  Gurdon's  little  boy!  " 

As  he  spoke,  Vesty  seemed  to  see  again  a  paleface 
with  a  great  light  upon  it,  turning  without  question 
to  its  stern  duty. 

"  Notely,  Gurdon  gave  me  up,  and  the  baby  that 
he  worshipped;  though  I  clung  to  him,  he  put  us  by, 
because,  though  it  was  hard,  it  was  right — it  was  the 
only  way.  I  think  it  is  often  so  between  those  two, 


THE    POPLAR    LEAVES    TREMBLE  173 

the  right  and  what  we  want.  I  think  that  love, 
somehow,  in  this  world  seems  to  be  putting  by — 
putting  by  what  we  want." 

Vesty  struggled  again  in  her  dim  way. 

"Why  need  it  be?"  cried  Notely  sharply.  He 
raised  himself  on  the  pillows  as  if  stung;  a  deep 
crimson  rushed  to  his  cheeks. 

"It  is,"  said  Vesty  sadly,  quietly — "  it  is.  What 
we  want — putting  by.  Do  you  think  I  did  not  care 
for  you  ? " 

His  haggard  face  turned  to  her. 

''Will  not  always  care  for  you?  But  you  will 
never  be  a  great  man  till  you  can  put  by  what  you 
want,  when-they  stand  against  each  other,  for  what 
is  right,  though  it  be  hard.  Then  one  would  not 
only  admire  and  love  you;  they  would  trust  you  to 
death's  door,  though  all  the  way  was  hard." 

Notely  had  no  answer  for  the  tongue-loosed  Basin. 
Besides,  her  words  had  comforted  him,  her  tears  fell 
on  him. 

"  I  do  not  think,"  she  said,  with  a  look  and  voice 
of  such  tenderness,  as  though  it  were  her  farewell, 
"  that  it  was  all  to  us,  that  I  should  marry  you,  or 
you  should  marry  me — until  we  could  live  brave  and 
true,  though  we  lost  one  another,  and  follow  the 
only  way  we  saw,  though  it  was  hard.  I  do  not  be 
lieve  we  should  have  been  happy — without  that — after 
a  little  while. 

"  I  could  not  love  you  if  you  left  your  wife  and 
married  me.  I  should  never  trust  you.  I  would 
rather  we  should  both  die.  Go  back  to  her  and  win 


174  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

her  with  your  own  love  and  kindness,  and  be  true  to 
her,  and  I  shall  never  lose  my  love  for  you." 

"Do  you  know  what  love  is?"  said  Notely,  with 
clinched  teeth,  tears  springing  from  between  the 
wasted  fingers  pressed  against  his  eyes.  "  Do  you 
know  what  it  is  to  suffer?  " 

She  gave  him  no  flaming  retort.  She  put  her  head 
beside  him. 

The  past  came  back  to  him,  and  her  poor,  bur 
dened,  self-sacrificing  life.  Wild  sobs  shook  his 
heart.  "All  lost!  all  lost!  "  he  moaned. 

"No,  only  not  found  yet,"  she  said,  looking  at 
him  through  her  tears;  "all  waiting." 

It  was  such  a  simple  Basin  path,  knowing  so  few 
things,  but  unswerving. 

"  Not  here,  I  know,"  she  said,  "  for  nothing  is  for 
long  or  without  loss  and  sorrow  here.  There  is 
always  somebody  sick  or  hurt;  and  the  poplar  trees, 
that  the  cross  was  made  from,  are  always  trembling 
and  sighing:  but  some  time  Christ  will  lay  his  hand 
upon  them,  and  they  will  be  still  and  blessed  again." 


COIN      TO    THE    DAGARRIER  S  175 


XVII 
COIN*  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S 

"  EVER  sence  the  accident,"  said  Captain  Pharo, 
with  a  gloom  not  wholly  impersonal,  "my  woman  's 
been  d'tarmined  to  haul  me  over  to  a  dagarrier's  to 
have  my  pictur'  took. 

"  I  told  'er  that  there  wa'n't  no  danger  in  the  old 
'Lizy  Rodgers, '  sech  weather  as  I  go  out  in.  'But 
ye  carn't  never  tell,'  says  she;  'and  asides,'  says 
she,  'ye're  a  kind  o'  baldin'  off  an'  dryin'  away,  more 
or  less,  every  year,'  says  she,  'an'  I  want  yer  pictur' 
took  afore ' 

"  Gol  darn  it  all !  "  said  Captain  Pharo,  making  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  light  his  pipe,  and  kicking 
out  his  left  leg  testily. 

"'Afore  ye  gits  to  lookin"  any  meachiner, '  says 
she. 

"'When  I  dies, '  says  I,  'th'  inscription  on  my 
monniment  won't  be  by  no  drowndin', '  says  I;  'it'll 
be  jest  plain,  "  Pestered  ter  death,"  '  says  I. 

"Wai,  't  that  she  began  a-boohooin',  so  in  course 
I  told  'er,  says  I,  'I  s'pose  I  c'n  go  and  have  my 
dagarrier  took  ef  you're  so  set  on  it,'  says  I. 

"  For  with  regards  t'  female  grass,  major,  my  ex- 
per'ence  has  all'as  made  me  think  o'  that  man  in 


176  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Scriptur'  't  was  told  to  do  somethin'.  'No,  by 
clam!'  says  he,  'I  ain't  a-goin'  to,'  and  hadn't  more 
'n  got  the  words  outer  his  mouth  afore  somehow  he 
found  himself  a-shutin'  straight  outer  the  front  door 
to  go  to  executin'  of  it. 

"When  I  thinks  o'  that  tex' — an'  I  ponders  on  it 
more  'n  what  I  does  on  mos'  any  other  tex'  in  Scrip 
tur' — I  says  to  myself,  'Thar*  's  Pharo  Kobbe — 
thar'  's  my  dagarrier,  'ithout  no  needs  o*  goin'  no- 
wheres  to  have  it  took." 

"I  should  think  it  would  be  very  nice, "  .1  said, 
"  to  have  somebody  wanting  your  picture. — I  am  not 
pressed  with  entreaties  for  mine." 

Captain  Pharo  sighed  kindly;  his  pipe  was  going. 

"Poo!  poo!    hohum!     Never  mind;  never  mind. 


" '  My      days    are       as       the      grass,    Or        as — ' 

I  s'pose  ye  hain't  never  worked   yerself  up  to  the 
p'int  o'  propoundin*  nothin'   yit  to  Miss  Pray,  have 
ye?" 
"No." 

^=^~n~7]~j  m 

"'Or  as   the  morning flow'r, — ' 

"Why  don't  ye,  major?" 

"  When  I  think  of  how  much  better  off  she  is  with 
seven  dollars  a  week  for  my  board  than  she  would 
be  taking  me  as  a  husband,  for  nothing " 

"  Oh,  pshaw!  major,  pshaw!  "  said  Captain  Pharo, 
with  deep  returning  gloom;  "seven  dollars  a  week 
ain't  nothin'  to  the  pleasure  she'd  take,  arfter  she'd 


COIN      TO    THE    DAGARRIER  S  177 

once  got  spliced  onto  ye,  in  houndin'  on  ye,  an' 
pesterin'  ye,  an'  swipin'  the  'arth  with  ye." 

Conscious  that  he  had  rather  over-reached  himself 
in  presenting  this  picture  of  marital  joys  to  my 
horizon,  Captain  Pharo  resumed  the  subject  with 
sprightliness. 

"In  course  the  first  preliminary  essence  o'  all 
these  'ere  ructions  'ith  female  grass  is,  't  ye've  got 
to  go  a-co'tin'." 

"Yes." 

"And  in  goin'  a-co'tin',  ye've  got  to  ile  yer  ha'r 
out  some,  an'  put  essence  on  yer  han'kercher,  an' 
w'ar  a  smile  continnooal,  an'  keep  a-arskin'  'em  ef 
tobakker  smoke  sickens  on  'em,  an'  all  sech  o'  these 
ere  s'ciety  flourishes  an'  gew-gaws  's  that." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  attentively. 

"I'd  ort  ter  know,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  alone 
with  me  in  the  lane,  assuming  a  gay  and  confident 
air,  "  f'r  I've  been  engaged  in  co'tin'  three  times,  an' 
ain't  had  nary  false  nibble,  but  landed  my  fish  every 
time." 

"  I  know  you  have." 

"  Now  ef  you  don't  feel  rickless  enough,  major, 
and  kind  o'  wanter  see  how  it  's  done,  you  ask  Miss 
Pray  t'  sail  along  with  us  up  to  Millport,  whar  I've 
got  to  go  to  have  my  condum'  pictur'  took." 

The  recollection  of  personal  grievances  again  be 
clouded  Captain  Pharo;  he  was  silent. 

"And  what?"  I  said. 

"Wai,"  said  my  soul's  companion,  with  the  fire 
all  gone  from  his  manner,  "I'll  kinder  han'  'er  into 
12 


178  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

the  boat,  an'  shake  my  han'kercher  at  'er  an'  smile, 
when  Mis'  Kobbe  ain't  lookin',  an*  the  rest  o'  these 
ere  s'ciety  ructions,  jest  t'  show  ye  how." 

I  appreciated  the  motives,  the  sacrifice  even,  of 
this  conduct  as  anticipated  toward  Miss  Pray,  whose 
society,  as  far  as  his  own  peculiar  taste  went,  Cap 
tain  Pharo  always  rather  tolerated  than  affected. 

Still,  it  was  with  doubtful  emotions,  on  the  whole, 
that  I  wended  my  steps  with  Miss  Pray  toward  the 
enterprise. 

The  scow  "  Eliza  Rodgers"  was  waiting  for  us  at 
anchor  among  the  captain's  flats.  We  went  first  to 
the  house. 

There  it  became  at  once  evident  to  me  that,  rather 
than  preparing  himself  with  oil  and  incense  for  the 
occasion,  Captain  Pharo  had  been  undergoing  severe 
and  strict  manipulations  at  the  hands  of  his  wife. 
He  had  on  the  flowered  jacket,  but  as  proof  against 
the  sea  air  until  he  should  be  photographed,  Mrs. 
Kobbe  had  applied  paste  to  the  locks  of  hair  flayed 
out  formidably  each  side  of  his  head  beyond  his  ears. 

Altogether,  I  could  not  but  divine  that  during  my 
absence  his  flesh  had  been  growing  more  and  more 
laggard  to  the  enterprise,  his  spirit  testy  and  un 
reconciled. 

'  'F  I  can't  find  my  pipe  I  shan't  go,"  said  he, 
with  secret  source  of  sustainment;  "stay  t'  home 
'nless  I  c'n  find  my  pipe,  that 's  sartin  as  jedgment." 

Now  I  knew  from  the  way  the  captain's  hand  re 
posed  in  his  pocket  that  his  treasure  was  safely  hid 
den  there — that  he  was  dallying  with  us.  Knowing, 


COIN      TO    THE    DAGARRIER  S  179 

too,  that  he  could  not  escape  by  such  means,  but 
was  only  weakly  delaying  his  fate,  I  took  occasion 
to  whisper  in  his  ear,  as  I  affected  to  join  in  the 
search : 

"Take  her  out,  captain,  and  light  her  up.  Let  's 
go  through  with  it.  Remember  you  promised  to 
show  me  how  to  act." 

"Hello!  why,  here  she  is  a-layin'  right  on  the 
sofy,"  said  he,  in  a  tone  of  forlorn  acquiescence 
that  could  never  have  recommended  him  to  the  foot 
lights,  especially  as  this  remark  antedated,  by  some 
anxious  breathings  on  my  part,  the  sheepish  and 
bungling  withdrawal  of  his  pipe  from  his  pocket. 

"Captain  Pharo  Kobbe, "  said  his  wife,  regarding 
him,  "  ain't  you  a  smart  one!  " 

The  captain's  manner  certainly  did  not  justify 
this  taunt.  As  he  led  us,  with  an  exaggerated  limp, 
toward  the  beach,  I  looked  in  vain  for  any  of  those 
light  and  elegant  attentions  toward  Miss  Pray  at 
which  he  had  hinted.  But  when  we  arrived  in  view  of 
the  "  Eliza  Rodgers  "  and  saw  that  the  tide  had  so  far 
receded  that  we  must  pick  our  way  gingerly  thither 
over  the  mud  flats,  by  stepping  on  the  sparsely  scat 
tered  stones,  Captain  Pharo  looked  at  me  and  took  a 
stand. 

"Miss  Pray,"  said  he,  "  'f  it  's  agreeable  to  you, 
I'll  hist  ye  up  an'  carry  on  ye  over." 

"Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe,"  said  his  wife,  as  if  it  were 
suddenly  and  startlingly  a  subject  of  physics,  "what 
ever  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  " 

"  Carn't  I  be  p'lite  ef  I  want  to  ? "  roared  the  cap- 


l8o  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

tain;  but  as  he  surveyed  his  contemplated  burden, 
who  was  a  good  many  inches  taller  than  he,  and  by 
all  odds  sprightlier,  he  paled. 

"  Ef  't  you  could  get  anything,  Cap'n  Kobbe," 
said  his  wife,  "  I  sh'd  think  you  had." 

This  unblessed  dark  reminder  of  a  causeless 
deprivation  settled  it.  Captain  Pharo  seized  Miss 
Pray,  blushing  with  alarm  and  amaze  at  such  sudden 
retributive  lightning  on  the  part  of  her  long-delayed 
charms,  and  bore  her  out  into  the  mud. 

But  he  had  labored  but  a  few  steps  with  her,  giv 
ing  vent  meanwhile  to  audible,  involuntary  groans, 
before  it  became  evident  to  her,  or  to  them  both, 
that  his  grasp  was  failing,  his  feet  sinking.  She 
threw  up  a  hand  and  partly  dislodged  his  pipe;  it 
was  instantly  a  question  of  dropping  his  pipe  or 
Miss  Pray;  the  captain  dropped  Miss  Pray. 

Both  women  were  now  angry  with  him;  between 
all  that  sea  and  sky  Captain  Pharo  appeared  not  to 
have  a  friend  save  his  pipe  and  me. 

Miss  Pray  indignantly  picked  the  rest  of  her  steps 
alone.  "  Ye'll  have  to  do  the  rest  o'  yer  co'tin'  in 
yer  own  way,"  murmured  the  captain  to  me,  darkly 
and  vaguely,  as  he  stepped  into  the  boat:  "but  my 
'dvice  to  ye  is,  drop  it!  drop  it  right  whar  'tis!  " 

"Oh,  that  is  all  right,"  I  tried  to  assure  him.  "  I 
— I  hadn't  hardly  begun,  you  know." 

We  scoured  the  bottom  successfully  with  the 
"Eliza  Rodgers, "  but  as  we  got  into  deep  water 
there  fell  a  perfect  calm. 

" 'T  'd  be  bad  enough,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  set 


COIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S  181 

against  the  world,  and  tugging  wrathfully  at  the 
oars,  "t'  go  on  sech  idjit  contractions  as  these  'ith 
a  breeze  t'  set  sail  to,  but  when  't  comes  to  pullin' 
over  thar'  twenty  mile,  with  the  sea  as  flat  as  a  floor, 

t'  have  yer  darn  fool  pictur'  took "  He  laid 

down  the  oars  with  an  undoubted  air  of  permanency, 
and  lit  his  pipe. 

Mrs.  Kobbe  pressed  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes. 
"  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe,  them  't  knew  you  afore  ever.  I 
was  born  say  as  't  you  was  the  best  master  of  a  vessel 
't  ever  sailed,  and  everybody  knows  't  you  can  sail 
this  coast  in  the  dark,  an'  though — though  you  did 
act  queer  a  little  while  ago,  I  don't — don't  like  to 
have  you  call  yourself  a  da — darn  fool." 

Captain  Pharo  glanced  at  me  with  suicidal  despair. 

Mrs.  Kobbe  and  Miss  Pray  took  out  their  knit 
ting,  with  the  implicit  Basin  superstition  of  "knit 
ting  up  a  breeze."  They  as  seriously  advised  me  to 
"scratch  the  mast  and  whistle,"  which,  agreeably, 
I  began  to  do. 

Thus  occupied,  I  saw  a  sudden  light  break  over 
the  captain's  face,  as  sighting  something  on  the 
waves. 

"  Fattest  coot  I've  seen  this  year,  by  clam!  "  said 
he,  seizing  his  gun  from  the  bottom  of  the  scow  and 
firing.  He  fired  again,  and  then  rowed  eagerly  up 
to  it.  It  was  a  little  wandering  wooden  buoy  bob 
bing  bird-like  on  the  waters. 

We  did  not  look  at  him.  Mrs.  Kobbe  and  Miss 
Pray  knitted;  I  scratched  the  mast  with  painful  dili 
gence. 


1 82  VESTY    OF    THE    HASINS 

A  breeze  arose.  The  captain  silently  hoisted 
sail;  at  length  he  lit  his  pipe  again,  and  returned, 
in  a  measured  degree,  to  life. 

As  we  sailed  thus  at  last  with  the  wind  into  Mill- 
port  it  seemed  that  the  "Eliza  Rodgers"and  we 
were  accosted  as  natural  objects  of  marvel  and  de 
light  by  the  loafers  on  the  wharf. 

"What  po-ort?"  bawled  a  merry  fellow,  speaking 
to  us  through  his  hands. 

"Why,  don't  ye  see?"  said  a  companion,  pointing 
to  Captain  Pharo,  who  was  taking  down  sail,  with 
the  complete  flower  turned  shoreward;  "they're 
Orientiles!  " 

A  loud  burst  of  laughter  arose.  Personal  allu 
sions  equally  glove-fitting  were  made  to  Mrs.  Kobbe, 
to  Miss  Pray,  to  me,  and  to  the  "  Eliza  Rodgers. " 

"Say!  come  to  have  your  pictures  took?"  bawled 
the  first  merry  fellow,  as  the  height  of  sarcasm  and 
quintessence  of  a  joke. 

"Look  a'  here,  major,"  almost  wept  poor  Captain 
Pharo,  "how  in  thunder  'd  they  find  that  out?" 

"Never  mind,"  said  I;  "we're  going  up  to  the 
hotel,  and  we'll  have  a  better  dinner  than  they  ever 
dreamed  of. " 

"  Afore  I'm  took  to  the  dagarrier's?  " 

"Yes,  indeed." 

"  See  here,  wife!  "  said  Captain  Pharo,  completely 
broken  down — for  we  were  all  suffering,  as  usual, 
from  the  generic  emptiness  and  craving  of  our  nat 
ures  for  food — "major  says  't  we're  goin'  up  to  git 
baited,  afore  I'm  took  to  the  dagarrier's." 


COIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S  183 

"  I  wish  't  you  could  have  your  picture  took  jest 
as  you  look  now,  Captain  Pharo  Kobbe!  "  exclaimed 
his  wife  kindly  and  admiringly. 

At  the  inn  the  most  conspicuous  object  in  the  re 
ception-room  was  a  sink  of  water,  with  basins  for 
ablutions. 

Captain  Pharo  waited,  visibly  holding  the  leash 
on  his  impatience,  for  a  "runner" — or  travelling 
salesman — to  complete  his  bath,  when  he  plunged  in 
gleefully,  face  and  hands.  Mrs.  Kobbe  drew  him 
away  with  dismay.  The  paste  that  had  endured  the 
whole  sea  voyage  he  had  now  ruthlessly  washed  from 
one  side  of  his  head,  the  locks  on  the  other  side  still 
standing  out  ebullient. 

" 'M  sorry,  wife,"  said  the  captain.  But  the  cap 
tain,  smelling  the  smoke  from  the  kitchen,  was  not 
the  forlorn  companion  of  our  treacherous  voyage. 
"I  reckon  she'll  stan'  out  ag'in,  mebbe,"  said  he, 
"  soon  's  she  's  dry."  But  he  winked  at  me  with  dar 
ing  inconsequence. 

In  vain  Mrs.  Kobbe  tried  to  flay  out  those  locks 
to  their  former  attitude  with  the  hotel  brush  and 
comb,  which  the  runner  had  finally  abandoned. 

"Poo!  poo!  woman,  never  mind,"  said  the  cap 
tain;  "one  side  's  fa'r  to  wind'ard,  anyhow.  I  can 
have  a  profiler  took,  jest  showin'  one  side  on  me,  ye 
know." 

"I  didn't  want  a  profiler,"  lamented  Mrs.  Kobbe; 
"  I  wanted  a  full-facer." 

"Wai,  wal,  woman,  I  hain't  washed  my  face  off, 
have  I?"  said  the  captain  cheerfully,  resurrecting 


184  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

his  pipe.  "  Put  up  them  thar1  public  belayin'  pins," 
he  added,  referring  to  the  hotel  brush  and  comb, 
"and  don't  le's  worry  'bout  nothin'  more,  'long  as 
we're  goin'  to  be  baited." 

The  "runner"  meanwhile  was  looking  at  us  with 
the  pale,  scientific  interest  of  one  who  covets  curiosi 
ties  which  he  yet  dare  not  approach  too  intimately. 

"Do  you  smoke  before  eating,  sir? "said  he  to 
the  captain,  at  the  same  time  standing  off  a  little 
way  from  the  elephant. 

"Poo!  poo!"  said  Captain  Pharo,  turning  the 
whole  flower  indifferently  to  his  questioner,  and 
drawing  a  match  with  a  slight,  genteel  uplifting  of 
the  leg;  "I  smoke,  as  the  'postle  says,  on  all  'cca- 
sions  t'  all  men,  in  season  an'  outer  season,  an' 
'specially  when  I'm  a  darn  min'  ter. " 

The  runner,  withered,  vanquished  by  horse  and 
foot,  thereafter  regarded  us  silently. 

At  the  table  I  made  haste  first  of  all  to  catch  the 
eye  of  our  waiter,  who  was  also  the  proprietor  of 
the  little  inn.  I  pressed  a  wordless  plea  into  his 
hand.  "We  are  eccentric,"  I  murmured  in  explana 
tion,  "and  you  must  look  well  to  our  wants." 

He  winked  at  me  as  though  we  had  been  life-long 
cronies.  "Eccentric  all  ye  wan'  ter,"  said  he,  "the 
more  on  'er  the  better." 

I  pointed  to  the  captain,  who,  the  table-cloth  be 
fore  him,  sat  rigid  with  hunger. 

"  The  ladies  will  consider  the  bill  of  fare,"  I  said. 
"  and  request  that  Captain  Kobbe  may  be  first 
served. " 


COIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S  185 

"  Which'll  ye  have — boil'  salmon,  corn'  beef,  beef 
steak,  veal  stew,  liver  an'  bacon  ?"  quickly  bawled 
the  proprietor  into  the  captain's  ear. 

"Sartin,  sartin,  fetch  'em  along,"  said  the  com 
pliant  and  nervy  captain,  "and  don't  stand  thar' 
no'ratin'  about  'em — 'ceptin'  liver,"  he  added.  "I 
hain't  got  so  low  down  yit  's  to  eat  liver." 

The  runner,  sitting  with  a  few  guests  at  another 
table,  served  by  the  proprietor's  daughter,  gazed  at 
us  with  fixed  vision,  not  even  having  taken  up  his 
knife  and  fork,  for  that  pale,  scientific  interest  which 
absorbed  him. 

"I  know  that  squar's  are  fash'nable,"  said  the 
captain,  taking  up  the  napkin  by  his  plate  on  the 
point  of  his  knife  and  giving  it  an  airy  toss  into  the 
middle  of  the  table;  "but  I'd  ruther  have  the  sea- 
room.  Is  your  mess  all  fillers  to-day,  or  have  ye 
got  some  wrappers  ? " 

"Wrappers?  Oh,  certainly  —  doughnuts,  mince 
pie,  apple  pie,  an'  rhubub  pie." 

"  Sartin,  sartin;  fetch  'em  along.  I'll  try  a  double 
decker  o'  rhubub — I'm  ruther  partial  to  'er.  Fetch 
'em  all  in:  all'as  survey  yer  country,  ye  know,  afore 
ye  lays  yer  turnpike.  F'r  all  these  favors,  O  Lord, 
make  us  duly  thankful.  Touch-and-go  is  a  good 
pilot,"  mumbled  the  captain  in  a  religious  mono 
tone,  and  began. 

From  this  time  on  our  table  fairly  scintillated 
with  mirth  and  good  cheer,  in  the  midst  of  which, 
his  first  hunger  appeased,  the  captain's  resonant 
tones  were  frequently  heard  pealing  through  the 


1 86  VESTY  OF  THE  BASINS 

dining-room,  singing,  as  if  particularly,  it  seemed, 
to  the  edification  of  the  pale  runner,  that  "  His  days 
were  as  the  grass,  or  as  the  morning  flower." 

I  observed  how  Mrs.  Kobbe  and  Miss  Pray  now 
and  then  warily  conveyed  a  "  doughnut "  from  the 
table  to  their  pockets,  with  an  air  of  dark  declension 
from  the  moral  laws.  Having  filled  their  own  re 
ceptacles,  they  whispered  me  an  entreaty  to  do  the 
same,  as  we  might  be  late  with  the  tide  and  hungry 
on  our  way  home.  I  complied  in  this,  as  in  every 
case,  gallantly;  but  in  my  very  first  essay  was  de 
tected  by  the  proprietor  with  a  large  edible  of  this 
description  half-way  to  my  trousers'  pocket.  He 
winked  unconsciously  and  obligingly  turned  his 
back.  Captain  Pharo,  however,  oblivious  to  sense 
of  guilt,  approved  my  action  in  clear  words:  "Tuck 
in  the  cheese  too,  major,"  said  he;  "  it'll  do  for  the 
mouse-trap." 

I  was  equally  unfortunate  when,  some  time  after, 
in  settling  for  our  dinner  I  drew  out  first,  instead  of 
my  purse,  the  very  same  fried  cake  which  had  for 
merly  betrayed  me;  and,  to  add  to  my  discomfiture, 
Miss  Pray  and  Mrs.  Kobbe,  who  had  six  of  these 
stolen  products  each  in  their  capacious  pockets,  re 
tired  into  a  corner,  innocently  giggling. 

But  an  unexpected  formidable  dilemma  arose 
when  Captain  Pharo,  braced  up  to  such  a  degree  by 
his  dinner  and  his  pipe,  declared  that  "  He  didn't 
know  as  he  should  be  took  to  any  dagarrier's,  after 
all !  Tide  and  wind  both  serve  f 'r  a  fa'r  sail  home," 
said  he,  "and  I'm  a-goin'." 


COIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S  187 

"Not  till  we've  been  to  a  tobacconist's/'  said  I, 
"  anyway." 

I  purchased  a  quantity  of  smoking  tobacco.  With 
this  parcel  peeping  enticingly  from  my  pocket,  and 
with  persuasive  argument  that  I  could  never  again 
leave  the  Basin  without  his  likeness,  as  aid  to  Mrs. 
Kobbe's  tears,  we  at  last  seduced  him  up  the  stairs 
of  the  studio  to  the  long-anticipated  ordeal. 

Now  if  young  Mrs.  Kobbe  had  had  the  discretion 
to  keep  silence!  But  "I  wish,  pa,"  said  she,  made 
bodeful  by  the  agonized  and  even  villanous  aspect 
of  the  captain's  usually  stoical  features,  "  't  you 
could  look  just  as  you  did  when  major  said  he  was 
goin'  to  take  us  up  to  dinner!  " 

"Good  Lord!  woman,  how  can  I  tell  howl  looked 
then?  I  didn't  see  myself,  did  I?" 

"  You  looked  so — so  happy!  "  moaned  Mrs.  Kobbe, 
"  and  your  face  was  all  break — breaking  out  into  a 
smile,  and  you  didn't  have  that  suf — sufferin'  kinder 
look  't  you've  got  now." 

"I  think,  myself,  sir,"  said  the  bland  photogra 
pher — "ah!  let  me  arrange  your  hair  a  little,  just 
this  side — or  this? — which  side? — ah!  so — that  a 
little  less  severe  expression — we  all  have  our  trials, 
I  know,  but 

"I  hain't!"  said  the  captain  ferociously.  "I 
hain't  got  a  darn  thing  t'  worry  me.  'F  my  woman 
wants  me  ter  have  to  git  a  boat  an'  row  out  for  the 
'Lizy  Rodgers'  on  high  tide,  an'  not  git  home  till 
sun-up,  I  don't  care.  What  ye  screwin'  my  head 
into — hey  ?  " 


1 88  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Merely  a  head-rest,  sir;  merely  an  assistance 
toward  composing  the — ah — features." 

"I  can  compose  my  feetur's  without  any  darn 
nihilism  machine  back  on  me,"  said  the  captain; 
which  he  straightway  did  in  a  manner  that  froze  the 
operator's  veins. 

"  Has  nothing  pleasant  occurred  to  you  recently, 
sir.  No — ah  ? " 

"O  Cap'n  Kobbe,"  exclaimed  his  wife,  with 
desperate  fated  mirth,  "think  o'  how  you  shot  the 
buoy  this  mornin'  'stead  of  a  coot!  " 

The  photographer,  observing  Mrs.  Kobbe's  face 
rather  than  his  victim's,  and  seizing  this  as  proba 
bly  the  opportune  moment,  transferred  the  captain's 
features  to  his  camera, 

We  waited  for  the  result.  After  some  time  our 
artist  approached  us  with  mincing  steps  and  a  hand 
thrust  in  his  breast-pocket  as  if  for  possible  re 
course  to  defence. 

In  the  type  before  us,  even  the  gloom  and  wrath 
of  the  captain's  countenance  were  lost  sight  of  in 
the  final  skittish  and  disastrous  arrangement,  through 
the  day's  perils,  of  his  hair. 

"Ye  see  now  what  ye've  done,  don't  ye?"  said 
the  captain  to  his  wife. 

Mrs.  Kobbe  came  over  and  stood  beside  me. 

' 'T  looks  'like  somethin'  't  the  cat  brought  in, 
don't  it?"  said  she,  still  gazing,  pale  with  curi 
osity. 

"  I  don't  know,"  I  said,  not  knowing  what  to  say; 
"  does  she  bring  in  a  great  variety?  " 


COIN'  TO  THE  DAGARRIER'S  189 

"Awful!"  said  Mrs.  Kobbe.  Having  said  which, 
she  put  up  her  piteous  little  hands  to  her  face  and 
began  weeping  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 

The  captain,  like  the  man  that  he  was,  took  a 
strong  new  tack. 

"Never  mind,  darlin',"  said  he;  "ye've  got  me, 
'n'  that  's  better  to  ye  'n  all  the  dagarriers.  We'll 
stompede  the  blasted  thing,  'n'  we'll  go  'n'  have  a 
nice  sail  home. 

"  Ef  I  ever  sees  or  hears  or  knows,"  he  added  to 
the  photographer,  "  anywheres  on  the  face  o'  this 
'ere  wide  an'  at  the  same  time  narrer  'arth,  o'  any 
o'  these  here  dagarrier-ructions  't  you've  played 
off  on  n>e  this  day,  bein'  otherwise  'n  destriyed,  I 
sh'll  take  the  first  fa'r  wind  up  here,  an'  if  thar'  ain't 
no  wind  I  sh'll  paddle,  an'  my  settlemunt  'ith  you'll 
be  a  final  one.  Good-arternoon. " 

The  captain  and  his  wife  strolled  down  to  the 
beach,  arm  in  arm,  Miss  Pray  and  I  following,  for 
lorn  and  forgotten,  behind.  We  saw  the  captain 
tenderly  pin  the  shawl  about  his  wife's  neck  before 
he  left  us  on  the  windy  wharf,  to  go  out  without  a 
murmur  to  bring  in  the  "  Eliza  Rodgers. " 

"How  shall  we  get  major  down  the  .slip?"  I 
heard  Mrs.  Kobbe  whisper  anxiously  to  Miss  Pray. 

The  "slip"  was  an  inclined  plane  of  boards,  of 
some  thirty  feet  in  length,  ending  in  the  water;  it 
was  without  steps  or  railing,  smooth,  green  with 
sea-water  and  slime,  and  it  was,  at  the  present  state 
of  the  tide,  the  only  way  of  boarding  the  "Eliza 
Rodgers." 


190  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

The  captain  now  stood  in  the  boat  below,  holding 
her  to  the  slip. 

Mrs.  Kobbe  and  Miss  Pray,  leaving  me  with  an 
encouraging  smile,  both  sat  themselves  down,  and 
by  the  simplest  means  of  descent  slid  safely  and 
swiftly  down  the  incline,  amid  ringing  cheers  and 
acclamation  from  the  wharf. 

"  Come  on,  major!  "  called  the  captain.  "  Touch- 
and-go " 

And  I!  Where  now  are  my  faithful  henchmen, 
the  men  of  mighty  stature  who  do  my  bidding,  the 
liveried  giants  who  open  the  door  of  my  carriage? 
The  breeze  blew  in  my  face,  and  the  "  Eliza  Rod- 
gers"  waited  below,  and  I  heard  the  rough  audience 
from  the  wharf  shouting  that  I  should  be  up  to  that 
much! 

Ay,  and  far  more. 

I  sat  me  down  with  a  smile:  that  strange  and 
swift  period  of  passage  is  still  fresh  in  my  memory; 
how  the  wind,  aided  by  some  slimy  intervening  ob 
jects,  turned  me  completely  about,  so  that  I  bounded 
at  last  with  affectionate  violence,  back  foremost, 
into  the  enfolding  arms  of  my  friends  below  ; 
cheered,  too,  from  the  wharf,  especially  as,  not  hav 
ing  been  able  to  make  so  judicious  an  arrangement 
of  my  earthly  vestments  as  Mrs.  Kobbe  and  Miss  Pray 
had  done,  I  was  now  a  startlingly  marked  object  of 
ridicule. 

Little  cared  we.  That  adventure  down  the  slip, 
ignominious  though  it  was,  had  put  fire  into  my 
heart.  I  entered  eagerly  into  the  captain's  scheme 


COIN      TO    THE    DAGARRIER  S  IQI 

of  hauling  and  rifling  the  Millport  lobster-traps,  in 
the  convenient  fog  which,  as  if  sent  by  heaven,  hid 
us  for  a  little  space  from  the  land.  The  blood  of 
ancestral  pirates  and  robbers  bounded  hilariously 
once  more  in  my  long-easeful,  sluggish  veins. 

The  floor  of  our  boat  was  covered  with  bright  sea- 
spoils,  the  fog  lifted,  the  wind  blew  fair  and  strong. 
Hungry  eternally,  we  munched  our  stolen  fried  cakes 
with  delight. 

The  sun  set  in  a  spendthrift  glory  of  state  and 
color,  the  water  was  as  if  translated  to  celestial 
climes,  languidly  the  fair  moon  arose. 

And  I — forever  Vesty's  face,  in  some  dream  of 
youth  and  happiness,  outlying  my  estate;  pictured, 
apart  from  me,  yet  new-creating  me  with  joy.  Afar 
off  in  earth-meadows,  the  love-note  of  the  thrush — 
not  for  me,  yet  passing  dear  and  sweet.  That  slen 
der,  languorous  moon  pointed  me  to  humble  village 
spires  and  grass-grown  paths,  pale  lovers  whispering 
at  a  rustic  gate.  I,  poor  sprite,  stooped  down  and 
loved  and  blessed  them,  though  I  sped  away  to  sail 
forever  and  forever  on  the  seas! 


192  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


XVIII 
UNCLE  BENNY  SAILS  AWAY  TO  GALILEE 

SAY  the  philosophers  how,  to  the  properly  sane 
mind,  there  is  no  sorrow.  But  Vesty,  only  a  Basin, 
fighting  Christ's  war  against  the  flesh — Vesty  had 
sorrow. 

"  It  was,"  she  confessed  to  me  alone,  I  being  as  a 
ghost  or  confessor — "  it  was  like  pulling  my  heart 
out,  to  have  Notely  go  away  so.  It  was  like  taking 
little  Gurd  away- — but  it  was  the  only  way." 

"He  has  gone  back  to  his  wife?" 

"Yes."  Vesty  shivered.  I  had  chanced  to  meet 
her  in  the  lane,  and  the  wind  was  chill. 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do,  Vesty?" 

"I  am  going  where  they  want  me  to  help."  She 
held  the  thin,  frayed  shawl  at  her  neck,  the  rosy 
child  wrapped  as  usual  on  her  arm:  "there  is  al 
ways  some  one  wanting  me  to  help,  and  little  Gurd  is 
not  so  much  care  now  but  I  can  get  along  with  it." 

"You  go  out  as  general  drudge  or  charwoman!" 
I  felt  my  nostrils  quiver  and  a  bitter  harshness  in 
my  voice. 

Vesty  looked  at  me  with  surprise.  "I  go  to 
help,"  she  said,  "just  as  you  helped  me,  with  Uncle 
Benny,  when  I  was  sick." 


UNCLE    BENNY    SAILS   AWAY    TO    GALILEE          193 

"Oh,  I  could  do" — the  child  knew  not  with  what 
a  glance  I  studied  her  face — "  what  it  is  hard  to  let 
you  do,  Vesty." 

A  gentle  pallor  at  that,  as  though  I  had  been 
strong  and  seemly  in  her  sight;  the  Basin  eyes  fixed 
on  me  as  if  with  a  community  of  experience  and 
sorrow. 

"Shall  you  go  away  from  the  Basin  this  winter,  as 
you  did  before?" 

"  I  think  so ;  "  for  myself,  I  could  not  look  at  her. 
"You  see,  I  have  my — 'show,'  that  I  must  attend  to 
a  little  in  the  winter:  and  here,  exposed  to  the  hard 
climate,  if  I  were  taken  ill,  or  should  be  in  want, 
there  is  no  one  who  would  care  for  me,  you  know." 

"You  should  never  want  or  suffer, "cried  Vesty  of 
the  Basins,  "  while  I  have  two  hands  to  work  with!  " 

"Perhaps  then,"  I  murmured  gravely,  with  sphinx 
face,  "  I  might  stay.  I  have  to  ask  so  much,  Vesty, 
you  see.  All  my  life  seems  to  be  asking,  not  giv 
ing." 

"  I  don't  know  who  you  are!  "  said  she,  with  puz 
zled  brow,  the  utter  frankness  of  Basin  speech  escap 
ing  her  unawares.  "What  I  thought  first,  when  I 
saw  you — I  never  mind  that  now.  And  you  are  poor 
and  all  alone,  and  you  never  make  anything  of 
yourself — but  somehow  I  always  think  you  are  pre 
tending;  somehow — I  think — you  are  stronger  than 
us  all." 

"You  are  a  little  arch-flatterer,"  I  said;  "and  the 
Basin,  out  of  its  goodness  of  heart,  has  made  me 
vain,  that  is  all.  It  won't  do.  I  need  to  sweep 
13 


194  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

some  more  floors  and  peel  some  more  potatoes." 
She  would  not  smile;  she  shook  her  puzzled  head  at 
me.  "And,  Vesty,"  I  said,  "where  are  you  going 
now  ?  " 

"Why,  to  Uncle  Benny's!  Didn't  you  know?" 
exclaimed  the  girl  eagerly,  with  whom  the  realities 
of  life  were  always  pressing,  stern.  "He  stood  out 
in  the  water,  that  day,  helping  get  the  men  in,  and 
he  was  around  that  evening,  singing,  without  any 
dry  clothes  or  fire;  nobody  thought,  then.  And  you 
know  he  's  had  a  cough  ever  since,  and  now — he  's 
sick." 

A  thought  smote  me.  "He  won't  lead  the  chil 
dren  to  school  any  more,  then  ?  " 

Vesty's  lip  quivered.  "Come, "she  said;  "he 
has  asked  for  you." 

At  sight  of  Vesty  with  her  child  and  me,  Uncle 
Benny,  to  whom  the  shadows  were  coming  as  to  the 
truly  sane,  without  grief  or  surprise,  touched  his  un- 
ribboned  throat  with  feeble  apology. 

"  I  look  dreadful,"  he  murmured.  That  was  not 
troubling  him!  He  had  a  secret  beyond  all  that, 
I  saw. 

"There  's  been  ten  in  to  call  to-day,"  he  exulted 
sweetly,  with  folded  hands  of  satisfaction,  death's 
bloom  high  in  his  cheeks;  "ten! — ahem! — to  call." 

Vesty  looked  at  me  with  her  sad  smile.  "It  is 
because  we  love  you,  Uncle  Benny,"  she  said,  "and 
you  took — take  such  care  of  the  children.  Who?" 
she  asked,  for  his  mind  was  on  it. 

"  Mother,"  said  Uncle  Benny,  since  he  was  sane 


UNCLE    BENNY    SAILS    AWAY    TO    GALILEE         195 

now,  "and" — he  mentioned  a  number  of  the  living 
Basins,  and  went  on,  in  the  same  tone — "  and  Fluke 
and  Gurd." 

Vesty  looked  at  him  with  touching  sorrow  and 
despair,  being  troubled  and  not  sane. 

"They  played,"  he  said,  his  hands  moving  with 
the  recollection  of  the  melody;  "  they  played  won 
derful — but  sometimes  it  was  an  organ!  " 

"  Good !  "  I  said,  Vesty  stood  so  pale.  "  We  are 
getting  health,  I  see.  We  are  on  the  straight  road 
now." 

Uncle  Benny,  hearing  my  voice,  beckoned  me. 

"All  the  things  in  the  drawer!  "  he  said,  "because 
you  were  'flicted."  His  eyes  shone  lovingly  and 
compassionately  on  me.  "  All  for  you.  But  go  and 
see !  " 

Enough  surely  to  relieve  all  physical  defects! 
The  worn  and  treasured  blue  necktie,  for  one  thing; 
a  little  pocket  hand-glass,  a  pin-cushion  devoted  to 
the  tender  ingathering  of  strayed  and  crooked  pins, 
some  sprays  of  mint  and  lavender  among  the  rest. 

I  felt  his  eyes  beaming  proudly  on  me — treasures 
beautiful  from  long  habit,  now  yielded  in  a  spirit  so 
complete  and  lofty !  I  brushed  the  back  of  my  hand 
along  my  eyes,  in  the  Basin  way. 

"  You  mustn't  feel  bad,"  said  Uncle  Benny,  as  I 
came  back  to  him:  "  nature  didn't  do  much  for  you, 
but  it  's  going  to  be  all  right.  I  had  a  talk  with 
mother." 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,  Uncle  Benny." 

"Oh,  yes!  it  's  going  to  be  all  right."     So  full  of 


196  VESTY    OF    THE   BASINS 

secrets!  he  spoke  excitedly,  with  discreetly  covered 
joy;  "you  needn't  feel  bad." 

He  lay  back,  lest  he  should  say  too  much.  And 
so,  as  he,  wise,  covered  up  his  sublime  knowledge 
among  us,  unwise,  with  smiling  lips,  he  sank  into  a 
sleep. 

Uncle  Benny,  dying,  slept  with  a  smile  on  his 
lips;  and  little  Gurd,  homeless,  fatherless,  laid  in 
this  poor  habitation  or  in  that,  humbly  and  roughly, 
slept  in  beautiful  health  with  a  smile  on  his  lips; 
and  we,  unwise,  watched  dolefully. 

"You  must  not  stay,"  said  Vesty.  "You  are  not 
used  to  lose  your  rest.  I  am  so  used  to  watching, 
and — I  am  not  afraid.  Lunette  said  she  would  come 
to  help  me  before  morning." 

Starless,  moonless  darkness  showed  through  the 
low  window,  and  the  candle  was  burning  dimly  on 
the  table. 

"I  shall  stay,"  I  said.  I  had  a  student's  knowl 
edge  of  death.  "  He  will  wake  soon,  and  then — it 
will  be  morning." 

But  Vesty's  dear  face  turned  to  me  with  the  sor 
row  of  dying. 

I  was  not  used  to  lose  my  rest.  I  dozed  faintly, 
with  faithfully  sleepless  lids.  In  that  east  of  heavy 
blackness  the  candle  made  a  strange  sun.  The 
world,  elsewhere  so  far  from  heaven,  here  at  the 
Basin  ascended  to  it  by  a  common  stairway,  and  lit 
tle  children  and  the  pure  of  heart  climbed  upward 
without  dread. 

"  May  I  go?  "  I  said,  watching  them. 


UNCLE    BENNY    SAILS    AWAY    TO    GALILEE        197 

"  If  a  child  leads  thee,"  said  a  voice. 

So  I  looked  to  a  little  child,  to  take  my  hand, 
and  I  saw  my  mother's  face  waiting  from  above, 
and  the  beams  of  glory  narrowed ;  it  was  the  candle 
burning  dimly  on  the  table. 

"Notely!  "  I  heard  a  voice  calling. 

I  started  up. 

"Notely!  "  called  Uncle  Benny,  very  sweetly  and 
tremulously  from  the  bed.  "Where  is  he?  I  led 
him  to  school." 

Vesty  had  gone  to  the  door,  and  leaned  her  head 
there,  as  if  to  press  back  the  unbearable  anguish 
and  pathos  sweeping  over  her  like  a  flood. 

"Notely!  Little  Note!  He  was  the  handsomest 
of  them  all,  but  sometimes  he  ran  away.  Notely! 
Little  Note!  come  home  with  Uncle  Benny  now; 
come  home ! " 

"He  will  come,"  I  said,  going  to  him:  "he  will 
come  home." 

"Vesty!     Where  is  she?     I  led  her  to  school." 

She  tottered  toward  him  and  pressed  her  warm 
hands  upon  his,  cold. 

"And  you,"  he  said,  trying  to  turn  to  me,  lov 
ingly,  faintly,  "you  are  one  of  them.  I  will  bring 
you  home.  Sing,  Vesty;  sing  'Sail  away '  ' 

"  '  As  Christ  went  down  the  Lonesome  Road  ' " 

Vesty 's  voice  broke. 

"Sing,  little  one,"  said  Uncle  Benny,  covering 
his  glad  secrets  again  with  a  sort  of  heavenly  du 
plicity;  "  it  's  all  right — sing." 


198  VESTY    OF    THE   BASINS 

"  '  He  left  the  crown  and  He  took  the  cross- 
Sail  away  to  Galilee! 

He  left  the  crown  and  He  took  the  cross- 
Sail  away  to  Galilee, 
Sail  away  to  Galilee! 

"  '  There  's  a  tree  I  see  in  Paradise ' " 

"Sing,  Vesty!" 

"  '  It  's  the  beautiful  waiting  Tree  of  Life- 
Sail  away  to  Galilee ! 
It  's  the  beautiful '  " 

Uncle  Benny  hushed  her  with  an  awed  motion  of 
the  hand,  and  a  look  upward  of  unspeakable  recog 
nition — he,  without  doubt,  seeing  now,  beyond  us 
blind. 


THE    BASIN  199 


XIX 
THE  BASIN 

"WHAT  I  thought  first  when  I  saw  you- — I  never 
mind  that  now." 

Vesty's  words:  and  "You  shall  never  want  or 
surfer  while  I  have  hands  to  work  with."  So  it 
seems  that,  at  the  Basin,  even  one  poor  and  afflicted 
may  have  good  hope  to  be  sustained! 

There  was  a  woman  once,  beautiful  and  high, 
who,  spurning  me,  would  have  married  me  for  my 
wealth  and  name. 

But  pity  is  sweet  and  true.  I  am  not  ashamed  of 
pity.  Some  time — if  all  things  failed  her — should 
I  even  say,  "  Vesty,  could  you  marry  me,  for  pity — 
for  pity,  Vesty  ? "  For  it  was  the  thought  of  the 
Basins  that  compassion  was  greater  than  love,  in 
some  way  the  diviner  side  of  love. 

Then  should  I  turn  on  her  and  say,  sly  as  Captain 
Leezur  —  alas!  so  much  slyer:  "My  lady!  My 

Lady  of  M ;  there  are  none,  even  among  the 

rich  and  high,  who  can  condescend  to  you ;  wide 
lands  have  you,  you  and  your  little  son,  possessions 
and  palaces;  and  others  you  shall  build  where  you 
will,  only  come  and  be  pitiful  where  you  move:  the 


200  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

world  needs  not  these,  but  love  and  pity  like  thine, 

0  Vesty  of  the  Basins!  " 

But  the  time  was  not  yet  to  plead  my  cause  for 
pity.  I  shall  know  if  ever  that  time  comes.  I  have 
never  mistaken  Vesty.  I  wait. 

"  For  pity  " — for  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  gold  or 
rank  to  exalt  her.  I  cannot  exalt  her. 

It  is  sweet  to  bear  about  with  one  the  secret  of  a 
strange  country.  But,  ah  me!  I  love  the  Basin. 

1  love  the  ragged  shawl  that  Vesty  holds  at  her 
throat.       Nowhere    else   will   the   winter   come   so 
dreary  and  beautiful,  with  wild  hearth  fires.     And 
Fate,  bidding   me   hope,  may    crush   me.     As   God 
wills.     I  wajt. 

It  is  but  late  summer  now.     There  is  a  meeting. 

"  It  's  been  a  very  busy  time  o'  year,"  said  Elder 
Skates,  with  timid,  inoffensive  apology  ;  "  and 
we've  ruther  neglected  religion  lately.  But  I  hope 
we've  gathered  here  to  the  old  school-house  once 
more  this  Sunday  afternoon,  with  a  dispersition  and 
a  willin'  and  firm  determination  that  as  for  us  we 
will  not  let  'er  drop." 

Vesty  had  a  native  sense  of  the  humorous,  but  the 
holy  lids  were  down;  only  the  mouth  trembled  a 
little.  Captain  Pharo  and  Captain  Shamgar  were 
finishing  a  game  of  croquet  with  the  one  set  of  those 
implements  which  the  Basin  possessed,  dedicated  for 
Sundays,  and  to  the  school-house  yard,  as  being 
dimly  understood  to  be  a  sort  of  Sabbatical  pas 
time.  Their  voices  pealed  in  with  unconscious  vigor 
through  the  open  windows: 


THE    BASIN  201 

"  Did  ye  shove  her  through  the  wire,  Pharo  ? " 

"Yis,  by  clam!  and  I'm  a-comin'  for  ye,  Sham- 
gar,  an'  the  next  crack  I  git  on  that  thar  rollin' 
cruiser  o'  yourn,  she'll  wish  she'd  'a'  died  las'  week !  " 

The  Basin  conception  of  the  game  not  being 
based  on  a  spirit  of  emulation  so  much  as  on  the 
cheerful  clash  of  immediate  vivid  strokes,  Captain 
Shamgar  laughed  loudly. 

"We  are  now  open  for  remarks,"  intimated  Elder 
Skates  feebly,  afflicted  but  firm  in  his  rubber  boots. 

After  a  season  of  respectful  silence  within  the 
school-house  there  was  a  sepulchral  whisper  from 
one  elderly  female  to  another  on  the  back  seats: 

"  Did  ye  know  't  Elvine  had  plucked  her  geese  ? " 

"Sartin.  She  plucked  'em  too  clost,  and  they  was 
around  fryin'  in  the  sun  scand'lous;  but  I  don't  sur 
mise  as  she  knew  no  better." 

"  In  course  not.  Ye  know  Miss  Lester's  boardin* 
some  folks  't  Gov'ment  sent  down  t'  inspect  the 
lighthouse.  It's  a  young  man,  an'  he  brought  his 
wife,  an'  after  he'd  finished  his  job  they  liked  it  so 
well  they're  jest  stayin'  on,  cruisin'  'round  an'  play- 
in'  tricks  on  each  other.  So,  ef  you'll  believe  me, 
what  does  that  Gov'ment  young  man  do  one  day  but 
go  an'  bring  home  a  passel  o'  snakes " 

The  voice,  to  the  eager  ears  of  the  listeners,  ven 
tured  more  and  more  upon  audibility — 

"  An'  he  fixed  'em  in  a  box  in  the  woodshed,  with 
a  string  to  the  cover,  an'  then  stepped  into  the  kin- 
dlin'-closet,  holdin'  the  string,  ter  wait  till  the  wom 
en  came  out,  ter  pull  it  an'  then  see  what  the  ver- 


202  VESTY   OF    THE    BASINS 

dick  would  be!  Wai,  what  think  you — but  his  wife 
she  suspicioned  of  'im,  an'  she  was  around  thar  hid- 
in',  an'  jest  as  soon  as  he  stepped  into  the  closet, 
afore  he  could  pull  the  string,  she  flounced  up  an' 
fastened  the  door  on  the  outside.  An'  she  kep'  'im 
in  there  till  he'd  say:  'Wife,  wife,  there's  lots  o' 
green  in  my  eye;  but  I'll  make  my  supper  on  hum 
ble  pie.  I'll  dump  them  snakes  in  the  pond,  dear 
wife;  an'  ef  you'll  only  let  me  out  I'll  be  good  all 
my  life." 

"Wai,  thar  now!"  said  an  admiring  voice;  "I 
should  think  she  must  be  r'al  gifted.  Did  he  say 
it?" 

"  Yes,  he  got  it  out,  somewheres  along  in  the 
shank  o'  the  evenin*.  But  Miss  Lester  says  it's  jest 
as  good  as  bein'  to  the  front  seat  in  a  show,  the 
whole  livin',  endurin'  time." 

"  Gov'ment  pays  their  board,  in  course  ?  " 

"  Sartin,  and  well  it  c'n  be  some  use  now  an'  then, 
settin'  'round  there,  not  knowin'  nothin'  in  this 
world  what  to  do  with  its  surplice." 

A  sharp  peal  rang  through  the  window. 

"Thar,  Pharo!  Ef  ye  want  to  find  yerself,  ye'd 
better  start  on  down  t'  the  south  eend  o'  the  Basin, 
'n'  negotiate  around  to  leeward  o'  Leezur's  bresh- 
heap;  that's  the  d'rection  yer  ball  was  a-startin' 
for,  las'  time  I  seen  'er! " 

"Poo!  poo!  "  said  Captain  Pharo,  drawing  a  Sun 
day  "parlor"  match  explosively  along  his  boot-leg; 
"jest  hold  on  thar,  Shamgar.  Jest  hold  on  till  I 
git  my  old  chimley  here  a-goin'  ag'in " 


THE   BASIN  203 

"  The  meetin'  is  open  and  patiently  waitin'  for 
remarks,"  said  Brother  Skates,  poising  himself  wear 
ily  but  ever  enduringly  on  one  boot. 

After  an  appreciative  silence  within,  the  whisper 
finally  arose  once  more:  "  But  he  paid  her  off  pretty 
well." 

"Dew  tell!" 

"She  took  'n'  hid  his  pipe  one  day,  and  her  clo's 
was  hangin'  out  on  the  line — she  wears  the  mos* 
beautiful,  'labberotest-trimmed  clo's  you  ever  see — 
so  what  does  he  do  but  go  an'  git  a  padlock  an' 
padlocked  them  clo's  onto  the  line.  'When  you  git 
me  my  pipe, '  says  he,  Til  unlock  your  wardrobe, ' 
says  he." 

"Wai,  I  never!     Ain't  them  ructions!  " 

"  Did  the  peddler  come  around  to  your  house  this 
month  ? " 

"  He  did  so.  I  bought  a  pictur'  't  was  named 
'Logan.'  It's  a  fancy  skitch,  I  guess,  'but  I'm 
goin'  to  have  that  pictur',  Cap'n  Nason  Teel,'  says 
I,  'ef  't  takes  every  egg  the  hens  is  ekil  to  from  now 
t'  deer-stalkin','  says  I.  It  jest  completely  drored 
me  somehow;  it  had  sech  a  feelin'  look." 

"  Did  Nason  let  ye  buy  it  ?  " 

"Yis,  he  did;  but  he  was  dreadful  sneakish  an' 
j'ilous.  'It's  jest  a  fancy  skitch,'  says  he;  "  'tain't 
nothin'  't  ever  slammed  around  in  shoes,'  says  he." 

"I  bought  a  pair  o'  black  stockings,"  said  the 
voice  of  a  young  matron.  "  I  remember  'cause  I 
wore  'em  the  very  day  that  Johnny  swallowed  six 
buttons — and  smut! — wal "  A  picture  too  dark 


204  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

for  the  imagination  was  relieved  by  the  hum  of  a 
discussion  now  bravely  finding  voice  on  the  male 
side  of  the  house. 

"  There's  some  difference  in  the  price  of  a  hoss 
afore  blueberryin'  and  after  blueberryin',  I  can  tell 

ye." 

"All  the  difference  'twixt  black  an'  white.  Wai, 
thar's  mos'  things  I  can  do  without,  but  when  you 
find  me  without  a  hoss  you'll  find  me  done  'ith 
trouble  altogether  an*  stretched  out  ca'm  an*  laid 
on  the  cooler." 

"  Skates's  raisin'  a  pretty  good  colt  thar,  'ceptin' 
't  she's  a  leetle  twisty  in  her  off  hin'  leg.  What  do 
you  consider  on  her  worth,  Skates?" 

"  I  refused  two  hunderd  dollars  for  'er  last  week," 
said  Brother  Skates,  in  a  clearly  round,  secular  tone 
of  voice. 

"Now  look  a-here,  Skates;  that  stock  o"  yourn's 
good  workin'-stock,  but  they're  tirrible  hard  feed 
ers.  Ef  you've  been  offered  two  hunderd  dollars  for 
that  colt  don't  you  wait  'tell  after  blueberryin'." 

"Mebbe  you  think,"  said  Brother  Skates,  now 
firmly  established  on  both  boots,  "  't  I'm  as  green 
as  a  yaller  cucumber!  " 

"  Look  out  thar,  Shamgar ! "  rang  through  the 
windows.  "Give  me  sea-room  here! — give  me  sea- 
room!" — we  saw  and  heard  the  preparatory  swing 
ing  of  Captain  Pharo's  mallet — "cl'ar  the  way  thar, 
Shamgar;  for  by  the  everlastin'  clam,  I'm  a-goin'  to 
give  ye  a  clip  that'll  send  ye  t'  the  west  shore  o' 
Machias!  " 


THE    BASIN  205 

A  mighty  concussion  followed. 
Elder  Skates,  as  if  reminded  by  these  thunders  of 
his  duty,  blushed  deeply  with  shame  and  penitence. 
" Vesty,"  he  pleaded  tremulously,  "will  you  start 
'Carried  by  the  Angels'  ? " 
Vesty  went  to  the  little  organ. 
Now  we  forgot  all  the  rest,  all  that  was  rude  and 
incongruous,  forgot  how  mean  the  school-house  was, 
how  few  protective  boards  left  upon  it.     Captain 
Pharo  and  Captain  Shamgar  dropped  their  mallets 
at  the  first  sound  of  Vesty's  voice,  and  came  in  on 
tiptoe,  with  changed  faces,  reverent. 

For  there  was  the  Basin  sorrow  in  Vesty's  voice, 
enough  to  subdue  greater  discords,  and  the  Basin 
hope  in  it,  implicit,  wonderful,  thrilled  to  tearful 
vision  by  a  word: 

"  Carried  by  the  angels," 
she  sang. 

"  Carried  by  the  angels. 

Carried  by  the  angels  to  the  skies. 

Carried  by  the  angels, 

Carried  by  the  angels, 

"  Gathered  with  the  lost  in  Paradise." 

Coat-sleeves  began  to  do  duty  across  moist  eyes; 
seeing — we  all  being  simple  Basins — winged  white 
forms  in  the  still  air  outside  the  battered  school- 
house,  bearing  worn,  earth-weary  forms  away — 

"  Gathered  with  the  lost  in  Paradise." 

It  was  not  so  hard  to  speak  now. 
"  I've  got  my  finger  on  a  tex'  here,"  said  a  white- 
haired,  weather-beaten  Basin,  rising;  "4In  His  love 


206  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

and  in  His  pity  He  redeemed  us.'  Now  thar  was  a 
time  when  I  didn't  want  nobody  to  say  a  word  to  me 
about  pity — no  sir!  Love  I  wanted  and  admirin' 
I  wanted,  but  no  pity;  that  thar  set  me  broilin'. 
But — now — I'd  e'en  a'most  ruther  have  pity  than 
love;  'nd  I  thank  God  most  o'  all  that,  in  my  pride 
and  in  my  stren'th,  and  not  wantin'  no  help  an' 
gittin'  mad  at  the  thought  of  it — all'as  He  pitied 
me,  an"  He  pitied  me  cl'ar  through  to  the  end. 

"  For  I  tell  ye,  thar  can  be  love  and  admirin',  that 
flashes  up  in  the  pan  mighty  strong  at  first,  an'  goes 
out,  an'  nary  mite  o'  pity  in  it.  But  thar'  ain't  no 
pity  'ithout  love;  and  it's  a  love  't  ain't  no  fine-spun 
thread,  but  a  ten-inch  hawser;  a  love  't  stands  by 
ye  when  thar'  's  a  trackless  path  afore  and  a  lost  trail 
ahind;  when  ye're  scuddin'  afore  the  squall,  an'  the 
seas  come  thunderin'  down  on  ye;  when  yer  boat  's 
in  splinters,  and  ye're  a-bitin*  the  sand.  Yis,  an' 
when  yer  cruisin'  's  all  done  at  las',  an'  ye're  jest  a 
poor  old  hulk  around  in  the  way,  driftin'  in  an'  out 
'ith  the  tides,  't  calls  out  to  ye,  as  ef  ye  was  some 
body,  'Ship  ahoy!  What  port?' 

"An'  ye  says,  kind  o'  hopin',  but  not  darin'  noth- 
in',  'The  port  as  they  calls  Heaven.' 

"An"  't  shouts  back  to  ye,  strong  across  the  wave, 
'What  are  ye  doubtin',  man?  That  's  a  port  sure! 
and  home  's  thar,  and  folks  's  thar,  and  the  little 
children  ye  lost  is  thar.  D'ye  want  a  pilot? ' 

"'Ay,  ay,  sir!— ay,  ay,  sir!' 

The  deep  voice  sank  in  tears,  then  broke  out 
again: 


THE    BASIN  207 

"Git  under  the  lee  o'  the  wrack! 

"For  days  an'  nights  once,  in  a  storm  't  I  shall 
never  forgit,  we  pulled  under  the  lee  o'  a  wracked 
vessel,  'n'  no  other  way  could  we  'a'  been  saved. 

"An'  it  was  so,  't,  in  this  sea  o'  life,  all  open  ter 
the  winds  o'  sorrer  an'  temptation,  Christ  come 
down,  an'  He  giv'  up  joy  an'  a  safe  harbor,  'n'  all 
that,  jest  ter  be  made  a  wrack  on,  so  't  we  might 
git  under  His  lee,  an'  foller  safe. 

"It  's  the  great  Breakwater  o'  the  seas;  don't  ye 
fear  but  it  's  a  safe  one! 

"Young  man,  I  know  't  ye  think  o'  somethin' 
more'n  this,  an'  vary  diffur'nt  from  this,  a-startin' 
out  each  one  in  his  clipper-bark,  gay  an'  hunky 
in  every  strand,  'ith  a  steady  follerin'  breeze,  an' 
everythin'  set  from  skysail  pole  to  the  water's  edge. 

"All  right!  ye  are  the  lad  for  me;  ye  can  pull 
side  an*  feather  stroke;  ye  can  cl'ar  a  tops'l  reef- 
tackle  when  the  sail  is  full,  ye  are  the  lad  for  me. 
Steer  bold;  only  steer  true,  by  night  an'  day.  I 
wish  't  ye  might  no'  meet  wi'  fogs  an'  icebergs  an' 
collisions  an'  gales 

"An  '  yit,  I  wish  it  not.  The  sea  an'  the  storm 
is  jest  to  teach  us  t'  git  under  the  lee  o'  the  great 
wrack  o'  Love  an'  Pity, 't  made  hisself  lost  for  us; 
ay,  an'  so  to  make  a  wrack  o'  our  own  happiness 
for  the  poor  an'  weak,  't's  out  a-tossin'  shelterless, 
to  lead  'em  to  the  true  Breakwater.  That  's  life, 
that  's  the  sea,  that  's  the  lesson.  Till  we  pass  on, 
up  the  roads,  into  the  harbor 

The  old  mariner's  voice  failed  him;  he  sat  down. 


208  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"Vesty,  "said  Elder  Skates,  and  cleared  his  throat 
huskily;  "Vesty,  will  you  start 'The  Tempests  broke 
on  Thee'?" 

Vesty 's  voice: 

"  '  O  Christ,  it  broke  on  Thee! 
Thy  open  bosom  was  my  ward, 
It  braved  the  storm  for  me. 
Thy  form  was  scarred,  Thy  visage   marred, — 
O  Christ,  it  broke  on  Thee!'  " 

Great  preachers  have  I  heard  dry-eyed,  and  skilled 
plaintive  music  enough  ;  but  now  I  looked  out 
through  the  broken  Basin  windows,  on  the  clear 
Basin  sky,  through  a  mist. 

"Vesty,"  said  Elder  Skates,  "let  's  keep  right 
along  into  'Beautiful  Valley  o'  Eden'!" 

"  '  How  often  amid  the  wild  billows, 

I  dream  of  thy  rest,  sweet  rest, 

Sweet  rest.'  " 

sang  Vesty,  with  eyes  darkly  circled  and  sunken, 
and  the  beautiful,  strong  hand,  labor-worn,  and  the 
thin  old  shawl  fallen  back  from  her  shoulders. 

There  was  a  different  tone  now  in  the  parting 
salutations  of  the  Basins. 

"I'm  a-comin'  up  to  help  ye  paper,"  said  one 
woman  to  another;  "ye  got  sick  last  year,  and  I'm 
a-comin',  whether  ye  want  me  to  or  not." 

"Oh,  I  want  ye  bad  enough,  Mar'ette. " 

But  I  knew  what  a  struggle  had  been  gone  through 
with  when  I  heard  Miss  Pray  say: 

"  Car'  Ann,  if  ye  want  to  borry  my  ice-cream 
freezer  I  ain't  a-usin'  it  for  to-morrer." 


THE    BASIN  209 

Miss  Pray  alone  of  the  Basins  had  acquired  the 
monumental  honor  of  possessing  an  ice-cream  freezer, 
esteemed  by  others  with  a  no  less  sacred  jealousy 
than  by  herself;  but  she  had  hitherto  refused  all 
intimations  tending  toward  social  interchange  and 
fellowship  in  the  matter. 

"  Vesty's  kind  o'  poorin'  away,"  said  one  matron, 
looking  wistfully  after  the  girl. 

"No  wonder,  with  that  great  boy,  and  all  she 
does.  Aunt  Low-ize  tried  to  hold  him,  jest  while 
Vesty  was  singin',  an'  she  had  to  take  him  out  and 
walk  twict  around  Blueberry  Hill  t'  keep  him  still; 
he's  one  o'  this  'ere  all-alive,  jumpin'  kind.  I  sh'd 
think  he'd  kill  her." 

I  overtook  Vesty  in  the  lane;  she  was  gathering 
flowers  in  Sunday  pastime  for  the  baby. 

She  turned  to  look  at  me  with  quiet  gladness, 
kindness. 

"I  love  to  hear  Captain  Seabale.  He  doesn't 
come  very  often,"  said  she,  "but  he  makes  me  cry." 

"I  believe  he  made  me  cry,"  I  answered.  I 
watched  her  shaking  a  handful  of  flowers  over  the 
laughing  boy.  "  How  far  do  you  think  pity  could 
ever  go,  Vesty  ? " 

"  Why  ? " — there  was  that  high,  grave  study  of  me 
in  her  eyes,  that  haunting  thought  that  I  was  sly! 
But  for  all  her  pains,  too  simple  was  she!  No  dis 
covery;  only  the  beautiful  Basin  unconsciousness. 
"  Christ  never  said  where  to  stop,  did  He?" 
14 


210  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


XX 

SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE  "  POST-OFFICE  " 

LEAFLESS  and  brown  are  the  trees,  but  the  Basin 
has  diviner  glories  than  at  midsummer,  in  colors 
unspeakable  of  sea  and  sky,  of  wild-sailing  cloud, 
of  sunset  and  of  moon. 

There  come  great  news  of  Notely.  In  pursuance 
of  which,  "  Did  ye  ever  notice,"  said  Captain  Lee- 
zur,  sitting  on  the  log  in  the  late  sunshine,  am- 
brosially  sucking  a  nervine  lozenge;  "did  ye  ever 
notice,  major,  how  't  all  the  great  folks,  or  them  't  's 
risin'  tew  be  great — how  't  they  all  comes  from  a 
squantum  place  like  this?  " 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "I've  heard  it  as  a  remarkable  fact. " 

"  I  don't  mean  t'  say  't  everybody  in  a  squantum 
place  is  beound  and  destined  tew  be  great  or  die!  " 
said  Captain  Leezur,  with  whole-souled  disparage 
ment  of  such  a  thought:  "no,  no;  they  can't  carry 
it  on  us  so  fur  as  that.  'Forced-to-go, '  ye  know." 

"No,  indeed!"  I  consented. 

I  accepted  a  nervine  lozenge,  and  we  braced  our 
selves  firmly  on  the  log,  placid,  but  set,  against  all 
resistance,  not  to  be  great! 

"What  is  this  rewmer  abeout  Notely,  major?  I 
heered  how  't  you  took  a  lot  o'  noos-sheets." 


SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE      POST-OFFICE  211 

"It  is  fine.  He  is  making  for  himself  a  name  in 
your  politics,  and  at  the  same  time  there  's  the  old 
fire  in  him,  flashing  out  over  conventions;  one  can 
almost  hear  him  laugh.  He  rings  out,  clear,  amid 
any  false  notes;  it  is  a  grand  satire;  sometimes  the 
dry  bones  quake." 

"Lord  sakes!"  said  Captain  Leezur,  turning  on 
me  with  deep-smitten  dismay;  "I  heered  how't  he 
was  bein'  successful! " 

"  His  financial  speculations  seem  touched  with 
magic,  they  say;  he  is  courted,  feared,  praised,  ma 
ligned;  he  laughs  and  rings  out,  the  true  note!  His 
health  is  not  strong,  never  since  that  fall.  There; 
you  have  all  I  know,  Captain  Leezur." 

Captain  Leezur  meditated.  "  There  be  times — I 
sh'd  never  want  this  said  except  between  you  an* 
me,  major — when  I'm  glad  't  Notely  Garrison  didn't 
marry  Vesty,  after  all!  Notely  V  me  was  great 
mates,  all'as.  But  I'll  tell  ye  this,  when  Notely 
got  everythin'  he  wanted  he'd  carry  sail  enough  to 
sink  the  boat,  all'as;  couldn't  never  jump  rough 
enough  or  fast  enough  on  a  high  sea;  kept  the  rest 
on  us  bailin'  water:  that  was  Note,  when  he  had  all 
the  wind  he  wanted;  that  was  Note,  all'as — but  I 
all'as  loved  him  better  'n  them  't  was  more  keerful 
sailors." 

The  sun  saw  itself  globed  in  a  tear  that  fell  on 
Captain  Leezur's  felts. 

"Moderation  in  all  things,  ye  know,"  he  added, 
beaming,  not  to  distress  me;  "even  in  passnips. " 

I  mused  with   him   in  silent  sympathy.     "Oiling 


212  VESTY    OF    THE   BASINS 

the  saw  again,  I  see,"  I  said  at  last  glancing  with 
reverent  admiration  of  such  benign  industry  at  the 
oil-can. 

"No,"  said  Captain  Leezur  kindly;  "I  wa'n't. 
I  was  a-goin'  deown,  by  V  by,  to  the  cove,  to  ca'm 
the  water  deown,  'n'  see  ef  I  c'd  spear  up  a  few 
fleounders;  but  I  ain't  in  no  hurry.  I'd  jest  as  soon 
set  areound  on  the  int'rust  o'  my  money!  " 

This  was  a  joke  insatiable  between  us,  always 
bubbling  over,  always  enough  of  it  left  for  next 
time.  At  its  utterance  Captain  Leezur's  counte 
nance  was  accustomed  to  break  up  entirely,  while  I 
laughed  with  an  appreciation  that  never  fainted  or 
palled. 

We  felt  that  there  was  never  aught  sparkling 
enough  to  be  said  after  it,  but  parted  in  succulent 
silence,  Captain  Leezur  with  his  oil-can,  going 
down  to  compose  the  waters,  while  I  pursued  my 
less  omnipotent  way  to  the  Basin  "post-office." 

"  Ef  there  's  anything  trying,"  said  Lunette, though 
with  the  peculiarly  official  air  she  always  wore  on 
post  days,  "it  is  dressin*  sand-peeps.  But  thar! 
Tyson  come  home  with  a  harf-bushel,  an'  what  are 
ye  goin'  to  do?  Onct  a  year,  Ty  says,  he  wants  ter 
jest  stuff  himself  to  the  collar-bone  on  sand-peep 
pie,  an'  then  he  don't  want  to  see  nary  one,  nor 
hear  'em  mentioned  in  his  sight — not  for  another 
year. " 

It  might  have  troubled  the  casual  observer  at  first 
to  discover,  in  the  variety  of  Lunette's  official  ca 
pacity,  which  was  post-office  and  which  was  sand- 


SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE  "  POST-OFFICE  '        213 

peeps,  so  agreeably  and  informally  did  these  two 
elements  combine  in  her  surroundings. 

"Mis'  Pharo  Kobbe!"  she  called. 

That  lady,  thus  summarily  summoned,  sprang  for 
ward  from  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  as  choice  and  flat 
tered  assistant. 

"  Won't  you  take  them  letters  't  Major  Henry's 
jest  brought  in,  and  deface  the  stamps  on  'em  ?  Turn 
the  ink  enter  them  pictur's  o*  George  Washin'ton  so 
't  his  own  mother's  son  wouldn't  know  him.  I 
don't  calk 'late  to  have  no  stamps  't  's  sent  out  from 
the  Basin  post-office  washed  out  an'  used  over  ag'in. 
The  defacement  they  gets  here  is  for  everlastin'  an' 
for  aye." 

I  watched  helplessly  a  full  discharge  of  this  com 
mand  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Pharo  Kobbe,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  pluck  one  of  the  sand-peeps  meanwhile, 
along  with  the  rest,  waiting  the  arrival  of  the  post 
bag. 

"Some  o'  the  rusticators  't  was  here  in  the  sum 
mer,"  continued  Lunette,  sneezing  over  a  culinary 
preparation  of  pepper,  "  though  't  we  ought  to  have 
two  mails  a  week!  Ef  I  was  so  dyin"  crazy  for 
news  's  that,  I'd  go  an'  live  to  Machias!  " 

"  That  does  seem  dissipated  and  unreasonable, 
certainly,"  I  assented,  interested  in  the  endeavor  to 
extract  the  minutest  pin-feathers  from  the  tail  of 
the  sand-peep. 

"  Ef  they  was  all  like  Major  Henry,  I  told  'em, 
the  post-office  'ud  be  easy  runnin',  an*  I  don't  care 
if  I  do  say  it  afore  his  face.  I'd  say  it  afore  the 


214  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

meet'n-house — ef  there  was  one.  The  very  first  time 
't  Major  Henry  ever  stepped  inter  this  post-office 
he  come  up  to  me  an'  handed  me  a  five-dollar  bill, 
'n'  says  he: 

"'Mardam,  could  you  kin'ly  put  my  mail  t'  one 
side,  me  not  all'as  bein'  convienent  to  be  here  at 
its  openin',  maybe;  an' all  the  mail  that  ain't  called 
for  at  its  openin'  bein'  thrun  up  onter  the  top  pan 
try  shelf,'  says  he,  "nd  everybody  't  comes  in  look- 
in'  it  over  t'  see  ef  they've  got  anything,  is  a  most 
beautiful  compliment  to  human  natur','  says  he, 
'an'  one  that  I  wish  I  could  interduce  everywhere; 
but  me  not  bein'  vary  tall,'  he  says,  'an'  kind  o' 
near-sighted,  I'm  afeered  as  I  might  git  somethin' 
't  didn't  belong  to  me.  Have  ye  got  anythin'  like 
a  dror,  or  anythin'  't  ye  could  lock  up? '  says  he. 

"'No,'  says  I,  'I  hain't,  but  I'll  tell  ye  what  I 
can  do.  I  can  put  'em  inter  th'  old  Gran'mother 
Tyson  soup-turreen,  't  I  don't  believe  the  led  of  it  's 
been  lifted  this  ten  year;  they'll  be  as  safe  as  ef 
they  was  buried  an'  in  their  graves,'  says  I.  An' 
so  I  thought,  but  ye  know  how  things  is  all'as  sartin 
to  happen. 

"  What,  in  the  name  o'  ructions,  did  Ty  do  but 
come  home  that  afternoon  with  a  bag  o'  ches'nits, 
which  he  knows  I  won't  have  in  the  pantry  on  ac 
count  o'  breedin'  worms;  but  me  bein'  over  to  Mis' 
Kobbe's,  what  does  he  do,  manlike,  but  dump  them 
letters  inter  the  churn,  an'  go  an'  sneak  his  ches' 
nits  inter  th'  old  Granm'er  Tyson  soup-turreen. 

"Wai,  I  all'as  churn  my  butter  Friday  mornin', 


SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE       POST-OFFICE  215 

come  hail,  come  wind:  so  I  gits  up — an'  'twas  kind 
o'  dark  yit — an'  in  I  pours  the  pail  o*  cream  an' 
begins  to  churn,  an'  thinks  I,  'This  spatters  onac- 
countable  this  mornin','  an'  took  off  the  cover  to  see 
what  the  ructions  was! 

"Wai,  the  verdick  of  it  was,  after  I'd  laid  into 
Ty,  I  went  down  to  major  with  the  five-dollar  bill 
an'  another  atop  of  it,  all  I  had  in  this  livin'  world — 
'An'  ef  that  's  any  objec',  major,'  says  I,  a-wipin'  of 
my  eyes,  'it  's  all  I  c'n  do.' 

"Wall,  what  think  you,  but  major  laughs,  an' 
wouldn't  tetch  ary  cent  of  it,  but  took  'is  letters, 
an'  says  he,  'They've  ackired  a  peculiar  richness,' 
says  he,  'an'  I'd  orter  be  up  there  mail-openin'  an' 
not  make  a  lady  so  much  trouble,'  says  he.  That 's 
the  kind  o'  poppolation  's  I,  for  one,  sh'd  like  to  fill 
up  the  Basin  with!"  said  Lunette,  flourishing  her 
rolling-pin. 

A  murmur  of  approval  ran  through  the  room. 

Blushing,  embarrassed,  but  swollen  with  pride,  I 
picked  up  another  sand-peep  to  pluck. 

At  that  instant  "Snipe,"  the  household  and  post- 
office  dog,  ran  across  the  floor  with  high-careering 
head,  holding  a  huge  envelope  in  his  teeth. 

"  Stop  him !  stop  him !  "  cries  arose :  "  it 's  Elvine's 
registered  letter,  't  's  goin'  to  Boston  for  a  tea- 
set  !  " 

A  rush  followed  Snipe  into  the  bedroom,  the  door 
of  which  stood  open;  the  evil  dog  ran  under  the  bed 
and  into  the  farthest  corner,  where,  with  his  jaws 
formed  into  the  semblance  of  a  menace  and  a  mock- 


2l6  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

ing  laugh,  he  assumed  an  attack  upon  that  potential 
tea-set. 

Lunette  rushed  in  after  him.  Now  the  bed,  in 
default,  for  some  unknown  though  doubtless  wise 
Basin  reasons,  of  other  stanchions,  was  set  up  on 
four  chairs,  one  at  each  corner,  and  as  Lunette 
rushed  under  it,  she  displaced  the  outermost  chair; 
whereat  the  bed  at  that  source  collapsed  with  a  crash, 
imprisoning  both  her  and  the  dog. 

"I've  been  a-threatenin'  to  have  that  bed  fixed," 
said  Tyson,  with  politic  zeal,  as  his  wife  and  dog 
were  delivered. 

Lunette  with  voiceless  indignation  seized  one  of 
a  buttress  of  birch-switches  behind  the  door,  and 
began  applying  it  to  the  consciously  ruined  Snipe, 
at  the  arising  of  whose  howls  the  post-carrier  drove 
up,  and,  entering,  threw  the  bag,  in  loud  token  cf 
his  arrival,  upon  the  floor. 

Snipe,  of  all  places,  ran  and  entrenched  himself  be 
hind  my  feeble  legs !  Whereat,  "  Don't  whip  him  any 
more,"  I  pleaded,  being  already  flattered,  in  one 
way  and  another,  as  high  as  mortal  could  sustain. 

Lunette  turned  unwillingly  to  the  post.  The  post- 
driver  stood  about  seven  feet  in  his  boots,  with  a 
handsome  face,  all  mud-bespattered.  Many  voices 
beset  him  familiarly. 

"Say,  Will,  did  ye  bring  down  my  molasses?" 
"Say,  Will,  did  ye  match  that  ribbin  f'r  me?" 
"Say,  Will,"  etc.,  etc. 

"You  bet  I  did,  every  time!  "  he  answered  jovial 
ly,  showing  his  white  teeth.  Interest  in  the  post 


SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE       POST-OFFICE  "       217 

was  comparatively  moribund;  a  general  parcel-dis 
tributing  and  hand-shaking  followed — until  we  were 
startled  by  a  cry  from  Lunette: 

"Look  a'  this,  Will  Hunson!"  said  she;  "look 
a'  this,  will  ye?  A  whole  pot  o'  strawberry  jam 
soaked  right  plumb  inter  the  middle  o'  the  United 
States  Governmunt!  " 

It  was  only  too  true.  The  pile  of  letters  and 
papers  which  she  had  emptied  onto  the  moulding 
table  were  red  and  glowing  as  the  summer  rose. 

Will  hung  his  dismayed  head. 

"Be  them  ructions,  or  ain't  they?"  coldly  de 
manded  Lunette,  pointing  to  the  awful  pile. 

"I  didn't  mean  to,"  said  Will. 

"  Didn't  mean  to !  "  cried  Lunette.  "  Didn't  mean 
to,  lived  in  a  lean-to!" 

Blasted  by  terror  and  sarcasm,  we  all  hung  our 
heads.  Snipe  grovelled  in  still  farther  behind  my 
legs. 

"There  's  got  to  be  something  done!"  cried  Lu 
nette.  "  Folks  's  got  to  learn  't  the  United  States 
Governmunt  is  a  awful  an'  a  solemn  an*  a  turrible 
thing.  What  ef  it  sh'd  be  told  't  we  hadn't  no 
more  respec'  for  her  down  here  to  the  Basin  'n  to 
soak  her  through  with  strawberry  jam  an'  molarsses! 
These  here  ructions  have  been  a-goin'  on  too  long 
with  the  Basin  post-office.  I'm  a-goin'  to  fill  out  a 
blank  an'  send  it  to  Washin'ton!  " 

Snipe  howled.  Lively  apprehension,  none  the  less 
poignant  for  being  vague,  sat  on  every  pale  brow. 

"Here,"  continued  Lunette,  "  's  major's  business 


2l8  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

letters,  looks  as  though  they'd  been  a-settin'  in  the 
dentist's  chair,  havin'  all  the  old  stumps  extracted 
for  a  whole  set  of  uppers  and  unders!  " 

Lunette's  comparison,  though  tragic,  was  not 
inapt. 

"Here" — blind  terror  yielded  to  curiosity  on 
many  features — "  here  is  Jennie  Cossey's  letter  from 
her  beau,  down  to  New  London,  with  a  cardboard 
dagarrier  in  it.  Yes,"  said  Lunette,  manipulating' 
the  envelope  curiously  and  holding  it  to  the  light; 
"  I  knew  't  the  next  thing  he'd  be  sendin'  his  pic- 
tur'.  How  'd  you  feel,  Will  Hunson,  ef  you  was 
stan'in'  in  his  shoes  an'  had  gone  an'  combed  yer 
hair  'tell  yer  arm  ached,  an'  stuck  the  end  o'  yer 
hankercher  outer  yer  pocket,  an'  had  yer  pictur' 
took,  an"  then  sot  down  an'  wrote  a  lot  o'  sweetness 
to  wrop  around  it — an'  when  she  took  it  out  have  it 
look  like  Injuns  a-yellin'  on  the  warpath! " 

"Say,  Lunette,"  said  honest  Will,  his  handsome 
face  redder  than  any  of  the  lively  imageries  she  had 
called  up  to  terrorize  his  conscience;  "I  got  that 
front  hair  fascinater  ye  wanted,  an'  I  sold  the  spruce 
gum  for  two  dollars  for  ye.  Look  a'  here!  " 

"Will  Hunson,  don't  ye  ride  no  more  strawberry 
jam  an'  molarsses  down  here  in  the  middle  o'  the 
United  States  Governmunt  ag'in,  will  ye?"  said 
Lunette,  determined  to  fall  gently. 

But  it  appeared  then  that  no  blank  was  to  be  filled 
out  and  sent  to  Washington! 

With  a  sharp  yelp  of  joy  Snipe  sprang  from  be- 


SOCIAL  DIVERSIONS  AT  THE       POST-OFFICE  219 

hind  the  impregnable  covert  of  my  legs,  and  rushed 
out  into  the  free  and  gladsome  elements. 

I  gathered  up  my  portion  of  matter  from  the  illu 
minated  heap  of  "government,"  beside  the  sand- 
peep  pie  on  the  table,  and  with  a  fond  smile  at 
Lunette  I  also  departed. 


22O  VESTY   OF    THE    BASINS 


XXI 

BROKEN  WINDOWS 

ALWAYS  now  on  the  evening  of  post  day,  after  I 
had  read  my  newspapers,  came  the  worn  shawl  and 
the  dark,  weary  eyes — Vesty,  to  sit  awhile  with 
Miss  Pray. 

"  Is  there  any  news  of  Notely,  Major  Henry  ?  " 

Now  and  then  I  made  her  put  the  question,  but 
oftener  I  was  kind  and  volunteered  any  information 
on  this  subject  that  I  had  been  able  to  glean;  and 
at  the  news  of  joy  or  success  for  him,  how  her  eyes 
glowed  J  Basin  pure  and  great,  wi-th  no  thought  for 
the  shadow  of  her  own  lot — Vesty  of  the  Basins. 

"Is  there  any  news  of  Notely,  Major  Henry?" 

She  was  pinning  the  shawl  at  her  throat  after  a 
short  call,  before  going  out;  and  she  gave  me  her 
direct,  reproachful  look,  as  though  I  had  been  teas 
ing  her. 

But  I  was  not  teasing  her;  my  heart  yearned  over 
her  where  she  stood,  facing  the  dark. 

"I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  read,"  I  said,  "as  I 
walk  home  with  you.  You  are  'helping'  them  at 
your  own  father's  again  now  ?  " 

She  bowed  her  head.  Her  dark  eyes  filled  me 
with  a  kind  of  frenzy  to  make  rest  and  comfort 
about  her;  and  I  had  hard  news  for  her! 


BROKEN    WINDOWS  221 

"  In  my  papers  of  the  past  week  the  beginning  of 
what  concerned  Notely  Garrison  was  a  medley. 
'Reformer,'  'The  old  never-heeded  cry  of  a  St.  John 
in  the  wilderness,'  and  again,  from  the  other  side, 
'Fanatic,'  'Visionary,'  'Throwing  out  his  by  no 
means  boundless  wealth  like  water  for  the  sake  of 
chimeras,  ideally  noble  enough,  but  still  vain  chim 
eras!'  And  the  news  at  the  week's  end,  'Young 
Garrison  stricken:  a  shock.  Overwork,  over-excite 
ment,  and  the  result  of  an  accident  suffered  not  long 
since.  Recovery  very  doubtful. ' ' 

"I  want  to  go  to  him,"  said  Vesty.  I  heard  her 
breath  coming  painfully  and  quick. 

"  I  knew  that.  I  have  already  made  arrangements 
for  you  to  leave  early  in  the  morning."  • 

"Just  to  see  him.  I  promised  him.  Notely! 
Notely!  I  can't  bear  it — just  as  though  it  was  lit 
tle  Gurd." 

"You  shall  see  him  by  to-morrow  night.  I  have 
sent  a  messenger  to  make  special  arrangements  for 
conveyance,  in  case  you  should  desire  this." 

"Major  Henry,  I  forgot.  I  cannot;  I  have  no 
money." 

"Ah,  but  you  can  and  must.     It  is  arranged." 

"  And  I  do  not  know  the  way.  I  was  never  from 
the  Basin." 

"  I  am  going  with  you.  In  my  country  high  la 
dies  travel  with  a  servant,  thus.  Get  what  rest  you 
can  and  be  ready  at  four.  They  will  take  good 
care  of  little  Gurd  while  you  are  gone." 

"Some  time,"  said  Vesty,  on  the  morrow,  "when 


222  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Gurd  is  a  little  older,  and  I  can  take  him  away  some 
where  where  I  can  earn  wages,  I  can  pay  you,  Major 
Henry.  They  want  me  now — his  mother  wants  me, 
somehow,  I  know." 

"You  are  safe  to  think  that." 

"My  clothes  are  not  like  theirs,"  said  Vesty 
quietly,  when  we  came  at  night  more  and  more  into 
the  throngs  of  civilized  life.  "Do  you  mind?  I 
knew  that  I  should  not  be  dressed  like  them." 

"  In  my  country  high  ladies  wear  what  they 
will." 

She  gave  a  low,  perplexed  laugh,  looking  at  me 
with  curious  sorrow  for  my  hallucinations. 

"But  I  am  only  Vesty." 

"  Surely.-  But  you  remind  me  so  of  a  great 
lady." 

At  least  Vesty  travelled  as  a  princess  might.  I 
brought  her  the  long  and  devious  journey  swiftly, 
with  as  little  fatigue  as  possible:  but  it  was  late  at 
night  when  we  mounted  the  steps  of  the  Garrison 
town  residence;  the  house  was  all  alight. 

Mrs.  Garrison  brushed  past  the  servant  at  the 
door. 

"  Vesty  Rafe!  I  knew  it  was  you.  I  knew  you 
would  come,  somehow,  child."  She  drew  her  in, 
and  fell  on  her  neck,  weeping. 

"He  is  dying?"  murmured  Vesty  then,  with  cold 
lips. 

"  He  has  not  spoken  since  the  shock.  He  does 
not  know  us;  but  it  may  be  he  will  know  you! 
Come!" 


BROKEN     WINDOWS  223 

Servants  from  the  doorways  of  the  wide,  rich  hall 
were  staring  strangely  at  Vesty  and  at  me.  Vesty 
turned  to  me  now,  to  consider  me. 

I  gave  her  the  warning  look.  "  I  came  to  show 
Vesty  the  way,"  I  said  in  simple  Basin  speech.  "  I 
will  go  to  my  hotel.  I  will  call." 

The  girl's  sad  eyes  looked  reproach  at  me,  but 
she  obeyed  me. 

"Wait, "she  said  then;  "I  want  to  speak  with 
Major  Henry."  She  came  to  me  in  the  door. 

"When  will  you  come  back?"  she  murmured, 
low. 

"  I  will  call  in  the  morning." 

"You  will  come?"  A  strange  abandoned  distress 
was  in  her  eyes,  as  of  a  child  lost  in  crowded  city 
ways. 

"Vesty!" 

She  turned,  chidden,  but  with  a  sort  of  wilful 
content. 

My  heart  bounded  as  I  limped  down  the  steps.  I 
smiled  to  myself,  safe  in  the  dark,  sardonically. 
Make  what  you  will  of  it,  with  other  men  she  was 
strong,  womanly,  serene;  with  me,  she  had  the  sweet 
grace  to  show  weakness. 

The  carriage  bounded  over  the  paving-stones  and 
stopped  at  my  hotel.  The  driver  lifted  his  hat  ob 
sequiously.  I,  with  sardonic  smile,  entered  the  ho 
tel,  where  I  was  not  unknown.  No  doubt  was  made 
as  to  the  character  of  my  apartments. 

I  rested  sumptuously,  but  could  not  sleep. 

"  How    was   he   now,  who    lay    stricken   yonder  ? 


224  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Had  he  known  her,  or  would  those  rare  blue  eyes  be 
lifted  to  her  too,  unrecognizing,  and  so  break  her 
heart  ? " 

Eyes  once  seen,  to  haunt  one,  the  handsomest  in 
form  and  color  and  expression  that  I  had  ever  seen 
in  human  head. 

Now  I  saw  them  again,  as  I  had  first  seen  them 
at  the  meeting  in  the  Basin  school-house;  the  firm, 
brown  hand  grasping  the  sailor's  bonnet;  eyes  om 
nipotent  with  health  and  joy,  casting  their  mischiev 
ous,  beautiful  glances  over  toward  Vesty — she,  pa 
tient,  struggling,  with  her  holy  look! 

And  the  Basin  wind  blew  in  through  the  cracked 
windows,  and  a  bird  flew  upward: 

"  Softly  through  the  storm  of  life, 
Clear  above  the  whirlwind's  cry  " — 

It  all  resolved  itself  into  that  at  last;  the  human 
voice  crying  upward,  shivering,  like  the  bird's  flight; 
but  with  sure  aim  now! 

I  saw  how  it  was  at  the  first  look  at  Vesty's  face, 
when  I  called  the  next  morning. 

Notely,  waking  once,  had  not  known  her  among 
the  group  of  doctors  and  attendants;  only  stared  at 
her  as  one  of  them,  kindly,  vaguely. 

But,  for  the  most  part,  he  slept  in  weary  bliss. 
Once,  later,  they  thought  her  face  had  awakened 
some  old  memory. 

"The  school-house — is  growing — dark,"  he  mur 
mured,  in  indistinct,  half-recovered  speech,  then  fell 
off  again  into  his  soundless  slumbers. 


BROKEN     WINDOWS  225 

The  doctors  knew.  I  knew.  The  mother  read 
no  hope. 

"He  has  so  much  to  leave,"  she  sobbed,  turning 
ever  to  Vesty,  who,  numb  with  sorrow,  yet  tried  to 
comfort  her. 

So  much  to  leave! — but  who  knows  ever  to  how 
much  going!  Not  so  Mrs.  Garrison.  The  bright 
way  ended  at  this  pass,  in  blank  darkness. 

And  Notely  slept  on,  wearied,  heedless;  soft,  lux 
urious  trappings  of  life  all  about  him;  his  recon 
ciled  young  wife;  his  hope  now  of  an  heir  for  his 
name  and  fortune;  the  work  he  had  struggled  at  last 
so  unrestingly  to  do;  and  the  dear,  lost  love  of  his 
youth,  Vesty,  bending  over  him. 

Leaving  them,  not  able  to  be  heedful,  so  deep- 
wrapped  in  unknown  dreams.  Waking  once  more 
and  turning  from  them  vaguely  (ah,  the  sublime, 
unconscious  contempt  of  death!) ;  turning  from  them 
vaguely,  as  though  in  some  far  Basin  the  dawn  were 
breaking! 

"Uncle  Benny,"  said  he,  holding  out  his  wasted 
hand,  "the  school-house  is  very  dark — I'll  go  home 
now." 

So  Vesty's  heart  was  broken  in  her,  and  to  me 
she  came,  as  to  a  father,  or  more  as  to  a  friendly, 
favoring  ghost. 

"Take  me  back  to  the  Basin!  " 

"Yes." 

She  sat   in  a  kind  of  patient  apathy,  numb,   her 
heart  faithful  with  the  dead. 
15 


226  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"How  little  Gurd  will  call  for  you  when  he  sees 
you  again!  "  I  spoke;  but  to  waken  her  was  to  bring 
such  a  torrent  of  tears,  choking,  she  entreated  me 
not. 

But,  "It  is  well,  I  believe,"  I  said  to  her;  "there 
is  life  enough!  Be  sure  he  does  not  lack  for  life. 
What!  do  you  think  we  have  found  the  best  of  it, 
and  all  of  it,  here?  I  imagine  God  has  enough!  It 
is  not  because  His  bread  fails  Him  that  any  go  hun 
gry,  or  because  He  lacks  for  gold  that  any  are  poor, 
but  only  for  His  purpose — we  must  guess — and  when 
the  poor,  shattered  school-house  grows  dark  the  light 
breaks  elsewhere," 

Vestyhad  not  slept  for  two  nights;  the  sweet  face 
was  haggard. 

Again  passing  among  crowds  of  restless,  hurrying 
life,  faces  cold  and  strange,  or  often  staring  curi 
ously,  the  haunted  look  of  one  lost  came  again  into 
her  eyes. 

"  I  must  go  and  take  care  of  Gurd,"  she  said,  "  as 
well  as  I  can,  while  I  live.  O  God!  I  hope  he 
never  may  get  lost,  out  in  the  world." 

"No;  how  could  he,  in  God's  world?" 

"When  we  get  back  to  the  Basin  then  you  will  be 
tired  of  staying  there  in  the  bleak  and  cold.  You 
will  never  wait  for  me  to  pay  you;  you  will  laugh 
at  me,  and  you  will  go  back  to  the  world." 

"Vesty!" 

Wearily  she  turned  her  heavy  eyes  on  me — a  ghost ; 
there  was  the  forced,  unconscious  cry  in  them  of 
the  child,  or  even  of  the  woman. 


BROKEN     WINDOWS  227 

Sacredly  I  shielded  their  glance,  and  ghostly;  it 
was  as  though  I  had  not  seen. 

"You  mistake  my  courage.  There  is  no  winter," 
I  said,  smiling,  "strong  enough  to  drive  me  from 
the  Basin." 


228  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


XXII 

"  NEIGHBORIN'" 

VESTY  never  said  "Stay!"  but  that  unconscious 
look  in  her  eyes  made  a  sort  of  forlorn  fireplace  of 
hope  to  me,  desolate,  open  to  all  the  winds.  As 
God  wills.  I  wait. 

I  went  often  to  Captain  Leezur;  the  nervine  loz 
enges  were  potent. 

"We  all'as  dew  neighbor  a  great  deal  in  winter," 
said  he  approvingly,  stretching  those  dear  felts  be 
fore  the  blaze. 

"  Is  that  a  piece  of  the  log  we  used  to  sit  on  ? "  I 
inquired  mournfully. 

"Wai,  neow!  I  r'a'ly  believe  ye  feel  a  kind  o' 
heart-leanin'  to'ds  her,  don't  ye?" 

"How  can  I  help  it?" 

"Sartin!  sartin!"  said  he,  delighted;  "we're  jest 
like  twin-brothers.  But  neow  don't  you  werry  one 
mite.  She  's  done  a  good  werk  an'  she  's  returnin' 
to  Natur's  God.  I've  got  another  one  't  I'm  goin' 
to  roll  deown,  first  hint  o'  spring.  I  don't  calk'late 
ever  to  be  feound,  like  them  wise  an'  foolish  virgins, 
without  no  log  to  set  on." 

"Thar  's  somethin'  abeout  a  log,"  continued  Cap- 


NEIGHBORIN  22Q 

tain  Leezur;  "when  ye  go  inter  the  heouse  in  warm 
weather,  an'  sets  deown  in  a  cheer,  the  women  kind 
o'  looks  at  ye  as  though  you  was  sick  or  drefflelazy: 
but  when  ye're  eout  settin'  on  a  log  ye  feels  as  though 
God  was  on  yewr  side,  an'  man  nor  woman  wa'n't  able 
to  afflict  ye.  They  's  a  depth  an'  a  ca'm  to  the  feel- 
in'  of  it,  't  them  't  sets  on  fringe  an'  damarsk  sofys 
don't  know  nothin'  abeout." 

"You  must  have  required  a  great  deal  of  oil  in 
sawing  up  the  old  log,  captain,"  I  said. 

The  captain  gave  the  restful  sigh  of  battles  over 
past. 

"  Mebbe  you  think  't  the  drippin's  o'  one  skunk 
did  it,"  said  he;  "but  they  didn't.  Did  ye  ever 
think,"  he  resumed,  "o'  what  a  wonderful  thing  ile 
is,  an'  what  'd  we  dew  without  'er? — heow  the 
wringin'  machine  'ud  seound  when  ye  was  turnin' 
on  'er  for  yer  wife,  Monday  mornin's?" 

"  No,"  said  I  sadly. 

"Then  ag'in,  it  's  ile  in  yer  natur'  keeps  ye  ca'm 
an*  c'llected,  an'  it  's  ile  in  yer  dispersition  1'arns  ye 
t*  say,  'Moderation  's  the  rewl,  even  inpassnips.' ' 

Lubricated  with  a  sense  of  peace  and  blessing,  I 
arose. 

"Ye're  jest  like  me,"  gurgled  Captain  Leezur; 
"ye  don't  feel  easy  in  a  cheer!  Ye  wanter  be  eout 
on  the  old  log,  don't  ye?" 

"Yes,"  said  I.     "This  isn't  quite  like." 

"We're  nateral  twin-brothers!  "  he  exclaimed,  fol 
lowing  me  to  the  door.  There  he  looked  cautiously 
backward. 


230  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  Dew  you  remember  what  I  said  to  ye  once,"  said 
he,  "on  the  subject  o'  kile?" 

"Ahem! — female  affection?"  I  inquired  gently. 
"Yes." 

"Some  calL  it  that," said  my  twin-brother,  beam 
ing  on  me,  "and  some  calls  it  kile.  Wai,  neow,  ef 
a  sartin  person  shows  a  dispersition  to  kile,  let  'em! 
Let  'em,"  said  Captain  Leezur,  irradiating  my  thin 
being  with  the  glory  of  his  countenance;  "let 
'em." 

"Ah,"  said  I,  and  shook  my  head  again  sadly,  "  I 
think  more  and  more  we  will  have  to  go  our  pilgrim 
age  without  that,  my  friend." 

"Neow  you  look  a' here,"  said  Captain  Leezur. 
"  I  ain't  a-sayin'  nothin',  that  they  will  or  that  they 
won't,  but  if  they  dew,  let  'em.  Did  ye  ever  think 
o'  what  a  heap  o'  wisdom  there  is  in  a  poor  old 
bean-pole? 

"  Mornin'  glory  comes  up  an'  looks  at  it.  Bean 
pole  stands  up  stiff,  without  no  feelin's:  don't  look 
at  'er,  nor  bend  over  an'  kiss  'er,  nor  nothin'. 
Mornin'  glory  don't  git  skeered,  an'  she  peouts  out 
a  lot  o'  leaves  an*  tenderls  an'  begins  to  kile.  Bean 
pole  takes  a  chaw  o'  terbakker  an*  looks  off  t'other 
eend  o*  the  field  t*  see  what  the  pertater  crop  's  goin' 
to  be.  Mornin'  glory  peouts  out  more  leaves  an' 
blossoms,  an'  keeps  a-kilin'.  By  'n'  by  thar  ain't 
no  poor  old  God-forsaken  bean-pole  standin*  there — 
it  's  all  one  mess  o'  kile  an  mornin'  glory! 

"I  tell  ye,  major,  we  need  once  in  a  while  for  t' 
1'arn  a  lesson  from  natur'.  I  ain't  a-goin'  to  press 


NEIGHBORIN  23! 

ye  to  stay  longer,  for  I  know  ye  wanter  go  neigh- 
borin' !  " 

Dazzled,  I  turned  away  from  the  refulgent  keen 
ness  of  his  wink. 

But  I  did  not  take  the  direction  that  wink  had  in 
dicated.  I  had  an  invitation,  not  from  Vesty,  but 
from  the  two  most  ancient  of  the  Basins  to  tea,  and 
I  stopped  in,  a  solitary  and  thoughtful  bean-pole, 
at  Captain  Pharo's  on  the  way. 

The  music-box  was  playing.  I  was  glad  to  hear 
that;  a  tune  in  undertone,  like  waves  slowly,  softly 
breaking. 

"  She  used  ter  play  fifteen  different  tunes  when  we 
first  had  her,"  said  Captain  Pharo  pensively;  "but 
she  got  to  squeakin',  an*  so  we  had  Leezur  up  to  ile 
'er,  an'  ever  sence  she  's  played  one  tune  fifteen 
times!  Poo!  poo!  hohum!  Wai,  wal — • 

:     .   ~~  -i — ^~- — i —   i     - 


'My      days    are       as       the      frass — ' 

Shouldn't  care  so  much,  though,  ef  'twas  only  'The 
Wracker's  Darter. ' 

"I've  threatened  a  good  many  times  to  overhaul 
her  myself,  but  I  ain't  no  knowledge  o'  instermental 
music,  and  I  s'pose  I  might  spend  a  week  on  'er, 
and  not  combine  'er  insides  up  to  playin'  no  'Wrack 
er's  Darter, '  ajter  all.  Hohum! 

*Or  as  the  morn  ing  flow'r. 

At  each  successive  pause  the  organs  of  the  music- 
box  wheezed,  struggled,  almost  faintly  let  go  of  life, 


232  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

then  began  again  the  undertone,  of  waves  softly 
breaking. 

"I  like  it,"  I  said.     "I  like  it  wonderfully." 

Captain  Pharo  gave  me  a  keen  look  and  went  to 
the  door  and  winked.  I  was  no  longer  supine  under 
such  invitations.  I  rose  and  followed  him.  "Look 
a'  here,  major,"  said  he,  when  we  were  alone.  He 
coughed.  "My  foot  's  'most  well." 

"I  am  glad  of  it,  captain." 

"Look  a'  here,  major,"  said  he,  desperately, 
"what  makes  you  so  took  up  with  that  'ere  monot 
onous  tune  in  thar?  I'm  afeered  I  may  'a'  misled 
ye,  times  past,  with  regards  to  female  grass."  He 
coughed  again  and  lit  his  pipe.  I  waited. 

"  'Specially, "  he  groaned,  "some  things  I  may 
h've  said  with  regards  to  red  and  white  clover." 

Still  I  waited. 

"  Look  a'  here,  major,  when  anybody  sets  down 
'n*  admires  to  sech  a  monotonous  tune  as  that  in 
thar,  thar's  somethin'  the  matter  with  "em." 

Still  I  would  not  speak.  Tears  almost  were  in 
his  eyes. 

"  Now  I  may  h've  said  some  things  on  partickaler 
pesterin'  'casions  in  times  past,  but  in  general  my 
verdick — hohum! — is  fav'rable  to  female  grass; 
'specially — hohum!  hohum! — wal,  wal,  ye  knows 
my  meanin',  major — 'specially  with  regards  to  red 
and  white  clover:  hohum!  how  'sVesty?" 

The  captain  gave  a  sigh  that  would  have  excul 
pated  him  from  the  gravest  of  crimes,  and  looked 
steadfastly  toward  the  west. 


NEIGHBORIN  233 

"I  haven't  seen  her  to-day." 

"Ye'll  think  it  over,  won't  ye,  major?"  said  he, 
still  with  that  far  withdrawn  vision. 

"Well,  yes;  I'll  think  it  over." 

I  had  proceeded  but  a  little  way  when  he  called 
me  back. 

"  I  had  it  on  my  mind  to  tell  ye,"  said  he,  "when 
I  heered  't  ye'd  been  'nvited  down  t'  Aunt  Goze- 
man's  and  Aunt  Electry's  t'  tea;  ef  they  give  ye 
some  o'  their  green  melon  an'  ginger  persarves,  do 
ye  manage  to  bestow  'em  somewhar's  without  eatin' 
of  'em,  somehow.  They're  amazin' proud  an'ch'ice 
of  'em,  an'  ye  don't  want  to  hurt  their  feelin's,  but 
ye'd  better  shove  'em  right  outer  the  sasser  inter  yer 
britches  pocket  'n  eat  'em — leastways  that  's  the 
way  they  'fected  me." 

Visions  of  a  past  mortal  suffering  flitted  across 
Captain  Pharo's  face. 

"I'll  try,"  I  said. 

"  Ef  thar  's  melon  an'  ginger  persarves  settin'  by 
yer  plate,  d'ye  ask  them  two  old  women,  in  some 
kind  of  genteel  s'ciety  ructions  sort  o'  a  way,  ter  go 
outer  the  room  an'  git  ye  somethin',  an'  soon  's 
they've  gone  d'ye  jump  up  an'  thring  a  shawl  over 
that  darn'  parrot  o'  theirn  't  stands  there  noticin* 
an'  swearin',  an'  chuck  'em  in  over  behind  the  wood- 
box  or  somewhar's,  but  don't  eat  'em." 

"All  right,"  I  said,  as  he  shook  my  hand  with 
suggestive  earnestness  once  more  in  parting. 

The  sisters,  by  mutual  adoption,  not  by  birth, 
lived  together  in  the  "  Laury  Gleeson;"the  sign 


234  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

of  a  wrecked  schooner  nailed  up  over  their  shanty 
door. 

"  And  why  not  ?  We  be  all  a-sailin',  been't  we  ? " 
said  Aunt  Electry,  who  was  ninety  years  old,  light 
ing  her  pipe;  "only  I  wish  't  some  't  's  sailin'  soli 
tary  had  mates  't  's  fit  for  'em — how  is  Vesty  ?  " 

"I  don't  know,"  I  began,  afflicted  with  a  sort  of 
lightness  of  head.  I  wanted  to  take  out  Uncle 
Benny's  pocket-mirror  that  I  carried  with  me  now. 
Was  I  beautiful,  and  tall,  and  fair?  What  had  hap 
pened  me! 

"  Lectry  's  a  great  girl  for  straight-for'ard  lang- 
widge,"  said  Miss  Gozeman  kindly,  pitying  my  con 
fusion;  she  was  only  eighty  and  did  not  smoke. 

They  led  me  out  more  nimbly,  almost,  than  I 
could  follow,  to  show  me  the  "  stock  " — some  forlorn, 
fantastic  stumps  of  trees,  long  dead,  all  whitewashed 
with  tender  art!  the  pet  coon,  the  tame  crow,  the 
wicked  goat. 

There  was  another  treasure ;  who,  as  we  came  in 
and  sat  down  to  tea,  eyed  me  from  his  cage  with 
grudging  and  disfavor:  it  was  the  parrot;  and  I 
presume  injunctions  were  upon  him  to  keep  still,  but 
I  did  not  know. 

"Does  he  talk?"  I  inquired  kindly. 

He  snapped  viciously  at  the  cage. 

"A  friend  't  had  him  on  shipboard  gave  him  to  us 
long  ago,"  explained  Miss  Gozeman,  with  gentle 
evasion;  "we  ain't  ever  been  able  to  break  him  of 
it."  What  the  habit  was  of  which  they  had  not  been 
able  to  break  him  I  sadly  inferred. 


NEIGHBORIN  235 

There  was  a  munificent  dish  of  the  green  melon 
and  ginger  preserves  by  my  plate.  I  was  chatting 
with  my  friends,  and  at  the  same  time  meditat 
ing  what  to  do,  when  the  tame  crow,  who  had 
slyly  entered  the  house  behind  us  and  'stolen  Miss 
Gozeman's  spectacles,  was  now  discovered  through 
the  window  hastening  to  hide  them  in  the  chip- 
pile. 

My  entertainers  trotted  nimbly  out  after  him.  I 
rose,  and,  lifting  the  cover  of  the  stove,  dashed  in 
the  contents  of  my  saucer — when  I  was  startled  by  a 
shrill  voice  and  a  mocking  laugh., 

"Oh,  I  see  ye!     I'll  tell!" 

I  had  forgotten  to  cover  the  parrot. 

"You  are  no  gentleman  if  you  do!"  I  retorted, 
forgetting  with  whom  or  what  I  was  talking. 

"  Shut  up!  "  said  the  parrot,  and  laughed.  "  I  see 
ye,  d— n  ye!  I'll  tell!  " 

At  all  events  I  turned,  with  the  intention  of  going 
out  to  assist  the  ladies  in  their  search  for  the  spec 
tacles,  when  the  scene  through  the  window  held  me 
for  a  moment  spellbound. 

The  crow,  having  accomplished  his  mischievous 
device,  was  perched  near  by,  gravely  regarding  the 
search  of  the  two  estimable  and  time-honored 
women,  who  were  peering  with  their  faces  near  the 
earth,  and  their  backs  turned  unconsciously;  when 
the  cherished  goat,  creeping  maliciously  up,  made  a 
rush  at  them  from  the  rear,  and  pitched  them  both 
into  the  chip  heap. 

This  unspeakably  base  proceeding  had  the  result, 


236  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

however,  of  discovering  to  them  the  glasses,  with 
which  they  soon  after  entered,  smiling. 

"  Bill  often  hides  our  glasses,"  said  Aunt  Electry. 

"  Does  the  goat  often  bunt  you  over?"  I  inquired, 
with  dismay. 

"Shut  up!"  said  the  parrot,  at  the  sound  of  my 
voice.  "Oh,  I  see  ye!  I'll  tell!" 

My  kind  friends  gave  him  a  sharp  glance,  but  con- 
siderately  did  not  look  at  me.  They  saw  my  emp 
tied  preserve  plate,  however,  and  concluding  that  I 
had  taken  advantage  of  their  absence  the  more 
greedily  to  gorge  myself  on  its  contents,  they  gener 
ously  piled  it  full  again  of  what  they  imagined  to  be 
the  same  coveted  substance. 

Seeing  this,  the  parrot  shrieked  with  fiendish  joy. 

"  Indeed  it  is  excellent "  I  began. 

"Oh,  stow  your  gab!"  sneered  the  parrot,  in  a 
suddenly  gruff  bass  voice. 

Aunt  Electry  rose  and  stamped  her  foot  at  him. 

"  He  only  knows  what  he  's  been  taught  long  ago 
— by  a  friend,"  said  Aunt  Gozeman  reassuringly; 
"he  can't — tell  anything  new,  right  out!  " 

All  the  crime  they  imputed  to  me  then  was  glut 
tony  in  the  matter  of  preserves!  Very  well;  I  pre 
ferred  that. 

"They  were  really  so  delightful,"  I  began,  with 
the  natural  reaction  from  my  qualms. 

"  Oh,  wur-r-r!  "  interrupted  that  horrible  grating 
voice,  and  then  laughed  high  and  loud. 

The  sisters  in  affliction  rose  and  bore  the  cage  out 


NEIGHBORIN  237 

into  the  shed.  But  I  heard  oaths  and  cackles  of 
malicious  intention  fired  at  me  through  the  door. 

"Sing  'We  be  a-sailin',1  sister,"  said  Aunt  Elec- 
try,  when  we  had  retired  again  to  the  fireside. 

Miss  Gozeman  obediently  began,  in  a  soft,  timid 
tremulo. 

"We  are  eout  on  the  ocean  saiTmg,"  came  in 
mocking,  strident  accents  from  the  wood-shed ;  "  Oh, 
h — 11!  give  us  a  rest!"  But  dear  Aunt  Gozeman 
sang  right  on,  smiling  pitifully: 

"  '  To  our  home  beyond  the  tide.'  " 

Ah,  what  tides!  what  tides  had  been  in  these  two 
lives!  Arid  stranded  here  for  a  little,  how  they 
cherished  with  a  great  heart  of  compassion  the  dead 
trees  that  bore  them  no  fruit,  loving  and  pitying  the 
wicked  parrot  that  mocked  at  them,  the  crow  that 
stole  from  them,  the  goat  that  upset  them. 

My  own  notions  of  charity  seemed  so  little  and 
mean  in  comparison. 

"Ask  me  again,"  I  pleaded;  "I  have  been  so  sel 
dom  invited  to  tea.  I  have  enjoyed  it." 

Even  the  fate  of  the  green  melon  and  ginger  pre 
serves  lay  hard  on  my  awakened  conscience.  But  I 
made  up  for  that.  Not  for  this  winter  nor  any  win 
ter,  so  long  as  they  live,  should  Aunt  Electry  or 
Aunt  Gozeman  want  either  for  preserves  or  less 
brilliant  condiments. 

Indeed,  I  play  at  making  home  and  occupation, 
and  they  of  the  Basin  are  to  me  as  my  sheep  through 


238  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

this  wild,  strange  winter;  and  I  as  their  sly  shepherd 
— sly,  like  Captain  Leezur. 

All  except  Vesty.  To  her  child  I  can  make  gifts, 
unknown,  through  my  stanch  friend,  Lunette,  even 
of  food  and  clothing,  but  not  to  her.  The  old  frayed 
shawl  is  grander  than  any  ermine,  and  the  goddess' 
chest  is  erect  and  broad;  the  winter  will  not  kill  her 
— but  I  have  gazed  sadly  in  the  mirror,  and  I  go 
often  to  Captain  Leezur. 


THE       FLAG-RAISIN  ,       OR       THE  OCCASION  239 


XXIII 

THE  "  FLAG-RAISIN',"  OR  "  THE  OCCASION  " 

"!F  there  's  any  fun  going  on,"  frankly  admits 
Mrs.  Kobbe,  "you'll  all'as  find  me  up  an'  dressed!" 
Perhaps  I  sympathize  more  truly  with  her  kind- 
hearted  spouse,  who  says  with  a  deep  sigh:  "We 
mustn't  be  tackiturn  jest  because  the  wind's  off  the 
snow-banks." 

So  I  go  to  the  flag-raising. 

"  The  Crooked  Rivers  and  Capers  have  had  their 
flag  up  these  three  weeks, "  said  Lunette;  "and  I 
heard  how  the  Artichokes  had  h'isted  theirn  yester 
day.  When  the  Artichokes  have  got  their  flag  up, 
seems  as  though  the  Basins  had  better  bethinkin'  o' 
what  time  it  is  in  the  mornin'!  " 

"What  is  the  flag  to  be  raised  for?"  I  inquired, 
with  unsuspecting  innocence. 

There  was  an  afflicted  silence;  still  they  loved 
me.  Lunette  alone  answered  at  last,  turning  to  Ty 
son,  not  to  me. 

"I  should  think  it  's  enough  to  have  a  flag-raisin* 
without  a-askin'  what  it  's  for!  "  said  she.  "What 
does  trees  grow  for?  What  does  anything  in  natur' 
act  the  way  it  does  for  ?  " 


240  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

I,  ever  safe  anchored  behind  Lunette's  champion 
ship,  looked  out  securely  at  the  derelict  Tyson,  to 
see  if  he  could  answer.  He  could  not,  but  was 
abashed.  Still  I  so  far  appropriated  the  hint,  wisely 
and  delicately  delivered,  that  I  made  no  further  in 
quiries,  only  giving  myself  unhesitatingly  to  the  joy 
of  preparation. 

The  flag  was  to  be  raised  over  the  school-house, 
and  instead  of  wending  our  way  dissonantly  thither, 
as  was  our  habit  in  attending  the  meetings,  we  were 
to  go  in  procession! 

A  curious  awe  attached  to  this  idea,  in  which  I 
fully  shared,  as,  being  formed  in  line,  I  tried  to  limp 
martially  behind  the  valiant  Lunette. 

"  Halt,  by  clam!  "  said  our  general. 

"  What  is  it?"  came  in  whispers  along  the  line. 

"Jakie  Teel  "  (one  of  the  sculpins)  "  "s  got  his 
trousers  on  hind  side  afore!  " 

"  Flory  dressed  him  by  candlelight  this  mornin', 
so  't  she  could  get  time  to  make  three  loaves  o' 
angel-cake  for  the  flag-raisin'." 

The  victim  of  this  mysterious  adventure  was  led 
away  by  his  mother  for  reaccoutrement,  while  we  as 
a  regiment  waited  patiently  for  his  return  to  warlike 
rank  and  file. 

"If  these  condummit  ructions  are  over,"  said  our 
general — for  the  wind  was  blowing  cold — "  forwards 
ag'in,  by  clam!  "  and  we  marched  upon  the  school- 
house;  but  we  encountered  so  many  difficulties,  of 
wayward  ropes,  in  hoisting  our  ensign,  that  Captain 
Pharo  declared,  rubbing  his  chilled  hands: 


THE       FLAG-RAISIN   ,       OR       THE  OCCASION  241 

;  'T  we'd  omit  the  usual  cheerin'  'tell  we'd  been 
in  and  thawed  out — ef  they  was  any  thaw  to  us — • 
leastways  baited." 

Vesty  was  there  with  the  rest,  munching  a  slice  of 
angel-cake — fit  food  for  her!  I  smiled  kindly  upon 
her,  but  did  not  forget  that  I  was  an  indifferent  bean 
pole. 

"  Major!  "  cried  the  Basin,  toward  the  close  of  the 
repast,  with  its  mouth  sweet  and  full — "  Major,  a 
speech!  a  speech!  " 

Now  I  had  a  heart  given  to  the  Basin,  with  a 
simple  thought  or  two,  and  I  requisitioned  the  best 
of  my  forces  for  the  "  Occasion,"  conscious  of  my 
morning  glory  there — oh,  she  of  the  skies!  munch 
ing  angel's  food. 

Whatever  I  had  said  or  done,  moreover,  the  Basin 
would  have  applauded;  yet  such  cheers  as  I  heard 
now  left  no  doubt  upon  my  too-willing  and  plastic 
sense  of  a  phenomenal  and  hitherto  unsuspected 
ability. 

"Vesty,"  said  Elder  Skates,  starting  to  his  feet, 
''will  you  start — start — start — anything?" 

"We  always  do  sing 

"  '  In  the  prison  cells  I  set, 

Thinking,  mother  dear,  of  you,' 

to  flag-raisin',"  said  the  ever  well-informed  and  offi 
cious  Lunette. 

"Somehow,"   said   Captain   Pharo,  shrugging  his 
shoulders,  "  thar  's  too  much  of  a  sea-rake  blowin* 
acrost  the  back   o'  my  neck  t'   sing  'Prison  Cells;' 
16 


242  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

'tain't  clost  enough  for  it  here.  What  d'ye  say  to 
'Hold  the  Fort'?" 

What  they  said  was  unanimous.  Even  Captain 
Leezur  knew  it,  and  the  sculpins,  of  terrible  voice.  It 
was  sung  with  such  complete  personal  abandonment 
to  strong  oral  gifts  that,  at  the  second  verse,  the  re 
maining  quota  of  plastering  upon  the  school-house 
roof  became  loosened  and  fell  with  a  crash  upon  the 
head  of  that  very  unfortunate  sculpin  who  under  other 
blighting  circumstances  had  been  forced  to  undergo 
temporary  absence  from  our  ranks  in  the  morning. 

He  uttered  a  mature  sea-oath,  and  was  again 
marched  violently  from  our  presence  by  his  mother; 
but  I  was  happy  to  see  that  he  returned  soon  after 
ward  and  renewed  his  portion  of  the  song  with  a  gusto 
which  the  added  quality  of  defiance  now  rendered 
deafening,  while  through  all  our  din  sounded  true 
the  flute  of  Vesty's  sweet  voice. 

"We  mustn't  forgit  the  occasion,  I  s'pose,"  said 
Captain  Pharo,  our  general,  at  length.  "Poo!  poo! 
hohum!  I  s'pose  it  's  about  time  we  was  thinkin'  o' 
goin'  out  to  cheer  the  flag.  Forwards,  by  clam! 
Poo!  poo!  hohum!  Wai,  wal — 


days    are       as       the      grass 


"Sh!"  said  Mrs.  Kobbe,  deftly  getting  audience 
at  his  ear. 

"Ladies  an'  gentlemen  an'  childern,"  said  Cap 
tain  Pharo,  taking  his  place  beside  the  flag;  "we've 
h'isted  of  'er,  an'  here  she  blows" — he  put  his  hand 


THE  "  FLAG-RAISIN,       OR       THE  OCCASION  243 

in  his  pocket  for  his  pipe,  and  drew  from  his  vest  a 
match. 

Mrs.  Kobbe  coughed  loudly,  and  even  shook  her 
head  at  him:  he  put  them  back. 

•"We  have  h'isted  on  'er, "  he  continued,  "an'  here 
she  blows!  " 

Mrs.  Kobbe's  cough  of  deeper  warning  and  high- 
mounting  blushes  on  his  account  nerved  him. 

"We've  h'isted  of  'er,"  he  shouted  with  desperate 
defiance,  "and  thar  she  blows,  don't  she,  by  clam! 
on  the  full,  the  free,  the  glorious,  an'  the  everlast- 
in'  h'ist!  " 

A  sturdy  round  of  applause  was  not  wanting,  but 
on  this  point  Mrs.  Kobbe  was  visibly  sceptical:  she 
received  her  lord  with  sniffs  of  disdain. 

4  The  full,  the  free,  the  glorious,  an'  the  ever- 
lastin'  h'ist'!"  said  she.  "Where  was  you  eddi- 
cated,  Cap'n  Pharo  Kobbe?" 

"It  don't  make  but  darn  little  difference  whar 
ye've  been  eddicated,"  replied  Captain  Pharo, 
"when  ye're  tryin'  to  make  a  speech,  an'  one  o' 
them  devil-fish  boys  goes  around  behind  ye  an'  snaps 
a  live  lobster  onto  the  slack  o'  yer  britches!  " 

Giggles  from  a  school  of  sculpins  safe  hidden 
somewhere  lent  further  aggravation  to  the  dilemma. 

"Jakie  Teel  an*  Pharie  Kobbe,  Junior,  '11  come 
to  judgment,"  cried  Mrs.  Kobbe,  in  a  loud  voice, 
"  'specially  Pharie  Kobbe  as  soon  's  ever  he  gits 
home,"  whereat  giggling  from  that  miscreant  quar 
ter  ceased,  and  she  relieved  her  lord  of  his  painful 
embarrassment. 


244  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

But  at  this  point  a  new  and  surprising  develop 
ment  arose.  The  Basin  horses  attached  to  some 
wholesale  herring-boxes,  extemporized  as  sleighs, 
were  driven  to  the  scene.  Captain  Pharo,  with 
heart-whole  joy  at  the  sight,  lit  his  pipe  and  de 
clared,  with  now  beaming  countenance: 

"  It  has  been  arranged,  to  crown  this  happy  'ca- 
sion,  for  all  our  unmarried  Basins  over  sixteen  year 
o'  age,  not  forgettin'  widders  under  forty,  to  have  a 
sleigh  ride.  Elder  Skates'll  reel  off  the  names,  ac- 
cordin'  to  which  you  can  pile  yerselves  in  accord- 
in'ly,  two  'n'  two,  side  by  side,  thus  'n'  so,  male 
an'  female,  created  He  them!  " 

Flushed  with  inspiration,  Captain  Pharo  glanced 
triumphantly  at  his  wife,  who,  at  this  more  than 
Pentateuchal  illustration,  refused  to  sneer. 

So  absorbed  was  I  in  watching  the  gleeful  em 
barkation,  and  so  little  dreamed  I  of  being  consid 
ered  in  a  case  like  this,  it  had  not  even  occurred  to 
me  that  I  too  was  an  unmarried  Basin  widely  over 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  yet  a  little  under  forty, 
when — 

To  the  choicest  seat  in  the  very  largest  herring- 
box,  the  back  of  which  was  stylishly  bedizened  by 
the  splendors  of  the  star  bedquilt,  I  heard  my  own 
name  called: 

"  Major  Paul  Henry  and  the  Widder  Raf e '  " 

Who  and  where  was  the  Widow  Rafe  ?  Lo !  Vesty 
stepped  out.  To  be  sure — the  formal,  the  flag-rais 
ing,  the  "  Occasion  "  name  of  Vesty! 

I  led  her  to  her  place,  but,  as  for  me,  I  sat  down, 


THE  "  FLAG-RAISIN',"  OR  "  THE  OCCASION  "      245 

lost  to  mortal  woes,  silent  and  dazed,  among  the 
stars. 

"  Didn't  you  want  to  sit  with  me  ? "  said  Vesty,  her 
face  rather  grave. 

"  Oh,  why  do  you  ask  that  ?  " 

"You  looked,  when  they  called  our  names,  as 
though  you  didn't  want  to." 

Now  I  tried  to  dwell  upon  the  words  of  Captain 
Leezur,  but,  however  callous  I  succeeded  in  appear 
ing  on  the  outside,  at  heart  I  was  a  happy,  happy 
bean-pole. 

"I  was  stunned,"  I  said.  "Besides,  you  see,  I 
did  not  expect  to  be  invited." 

"Why  not,  Major  Henry?" 

Oh,  the  beautiful  Basin!  the  beautiful  Basin!  I 
tried  to  speak,  but  could  not. 

"You  never  seemed  before,"  said  she,  a  sea-shell 
color  glowing  in  her  cheeks,  "to  feel  above  us!  " 

She  felt  humbled,  and  my  poor  brain  was  too 
dizzy  and  incredulous  to  frame  fitting  words.  I 
swallowed  hard;  that  was  a  Basin  prerogative,  and 
by  exerting  it  a  direct  Basin  inspiration  seemed  to 
come  to  me. 

"  Feel  above  you !     O  Vesty!  " 

At  that  the  sea-shell  color  went  away  down  low, 
even  to  her  lips,  but  no  further  illumination  came  to 
me. 

Past  ghostly  hill  and  moor  and  still-gleaming 
flood  we  flew.  "I  am  happy,"  I  could  say  at  last, 
"  as  I  ought  not  to  be.  In  all  scenes  and  places 
where  I  may  ever  be  I  shall  remember  this,  Vesty." 


246  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

She  shivered  a  little.  Ah!  the  sad  old  shawl!  I 
clinched  my  hands. 

Past  hill  and  moor  and  still-gleaming  flood:  the 
light  of  day  changed  to  one  unfathomed,  possible, 
as  of  sweet,  unspoken  dreams  becoming  blessed  at 
nightfall. 

Then  all  at  once,  round  and  full  above  a  distant 
hill-top,  rose  the  hoyden  moon,  and  the  Basins  sa 
luted  her  with  shouts  of  natural  delight,  all  save 
Vesty  and  I,  who  were  silent. 

Now,  I  saw,  was  the  hour  when  each  Basin  put  his 
arm  about  his  girl.  I  could  not  have  touched  my 
girl,  not  under  all  the  rollicking  moonbeams  that 
ever  fired  the  heart  of  youth  and  man.  Farther  she 
seemed  to  me  than  that  far  white  hill-top,  glittering 
and  high. 

Yet  it  pierced  me  that  it  was  a  gloomy  ride  for 
her.  "It  was  good  and  kind  of  them,"  I  said,  "to 
place  a  poor  old  fellow  like  me  here  beside  you; 
but  you  should  have  one  of  those  rosy,  handsome 
lads  with  you;  you  so  young,  though  we  forget  it. 
Your  life  is  yet  to  live." 

At  the  reproach  in  her  eyes — a  look  of  anger,  -too, 
but  for  its  wild  and  dark  distress — my  heart  had 
almost  leaped  to  my  lips. 

But — too  merry  the  rollickers,  who  had  fallen  be 
hind- us,  driving  on  the  homeward  road;  there  had 
been  several  laughing,  reckless  adventures  of  over 
turned  herring-boxes  in  the  snow-drifts;  now  the 
pole  attached  to  one  of  these  had  broken;  the  fright 
ened  horses  had  cleared  themselves  and  were  veering 


THE  "  FLAG-RAISIN',"  OR  "  THE  OCCASION  "      247 

madly  on  the  narrow  road,  with  the  swirfging  cross 
bar,  toward  that  side  of  the  sled  where  my  girl  sat, 
unconscious  of  the  danger,  still  and  pale. 

I  sprang,  fell  in  a  heap,  but  rose  again  somehow; 
and  now  at  last  I  put  up  my  arm.  It  was  not  with 
out  strength — in  this  case  more  than  mortal  strong — 
still,  in  the  end,  I  fell. 

When  I  came  to  myself  we  were  still  flying  through 
the  wild,  swift-changing  scene,  homeward  bound; 
one  of  my  hands  was  numb,  and  my  wrist  bandaged, 
and  my  head — was  on  Vesty's  shoulder!  We  were 
in  right  Basin  fashion  now,  only  by  needs  it  was 
Vesty's  arm  that  was  about  me. 

"Am  I  dead,  Vesty?"  said  I,  half  believing  it  in 
my  bliss;  besides,  I  had  ever  a  great  appreciation  of 
the  Irish  humor. 

"Oh,  don't,  major;  don't!"  said  Vesty;  "you 
saved  me  from  getting  terribly  hurt,  they  say — 
or " 

"  Ugh!  "  I  groaned. 

"Your  poor  arm!  "  said  she.     "Oh,  the  pain!  " 

"  Nothing  pains  me,"  said  I. 

"Your  arm  wasn't  broken,  major;  but  it  's  terri 
bly  bruised  and  sprained." 

"And  my  neck,  Vesty — you  are  sure  that  was  not 
broken?" 

She  sighed,  but  since  I  was  bent,  she  followed  my 
humor. 

"Never  fear,"  said  this  demure  young  woman; 
"  that  's  too  proud  ever  to  get  a  twist." 


248  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

Here  was  a  dilemma — that  I  should  be  develop 
ing  into  a  wit  and  Vesty  into  a  coquette! 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  must  try  and  straighten  myself 
up  again,"  and  with  that  endeavor  the  pain  did  cut 
me  so  cruelly  I  fainted,  quite  without  any  maiden 
affectation,  back  again  on  to  Vesty's  arm. 

"  Try  and  think,"  said  she,  when  I  could  hear  her 
voice,  "  that  I  am  some  old  woman,  just  trying  to 
take  care  of  you — somebody  not  disagreeable  to  you, 
and  keep  still  till  we  get  home." 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  tormenting  myself  with  the 
thought  that  she  was  acting  under  some  compelling 
sense  of  obligation;  and  that  should  never  be. 

So  I  answered  briefly  all  at  once;  and  no  sooner 
had  I  spoken  than  I  endured  a  gnawing  conscious 
ness  that  I  was  the  hatefullest  thing  that  had  escaped 
extermination  that  night.  I  kept  still,  however;  the 
pain  was  something  to  dread. 

At  least  I  had  my  beautiful  mother's  hair,  thick 
and  curling;  that  was  all  Vesty  could  see  now 
there  on  her  shoulder.  I  comforted  myself  with 
that  thought  as  a  child.  I  was  weak,  and  I  let 
some  tears  roll  down  my  face  that  Vesty  could  not 
see. 

When  the  strong  fellows  took  me  out  of  the  sleigh 
and  bore  me  very  gently  up  to  the  door  they  stopped 
there  for  a  moment,  while  I  wondered;  and  if  any 
bitter  sense  of  their  physical  supremacy  pierced  me 
at  that  moment  it  ceased  forever,  as  with  a  precon 
certed  signal  from  the  foremost  they  lifted  the  caps 
from  their  heads  and  cheered  my  name,  thrice  and 


THE       FLAG-RAISIN  ,       OR       THE  OCCASION  249 

again,  and  again,  with  ringing  cheers— and  Vesty 
standing  by! 

The  old  Basin  flag — almost  as  dilapidated  as  I — • 
had  heard  nothing  like  it;  but  when  they  dressed 
the  swollen  arm  pain  sent  me  off  into  oblivion  again. 
Vesty's  was  the  last  face  I  saw  bending  over  me: 

"  Do  you  " — timidly — "  do  you  want  me  to  come 
to-morrow,  and  see  how  you  are  ?  " 

"Oh,  if  you  will— thank  you!  Still,  I  am  all 
right — I  shall  be  all  right,  never  fear." 

She  lingered  still  a  moment,  but  spoke  calmly: 

"If  you  don't  care  anything  about  me  why  did  you 
risk  your  life  to  save  me  from  getting  hurt  ? " 

A  demon  possessed  me.  Pity  I  could  have  en 
dured,  but  if  she  were  stung  on  by  that  inflicted 
sense  of  gratitude? 

"Why  did  you  risk  your  life  to  save  me?" 

"Oh,  it  was  pity,  child,"  I  answered  her;  the 
surging  bitterness  within  made  it  almost  a  sneer — 
"natural  human  pity:  it  is  strong  in  all  my  race." 

She  looked  at  me  with  a  beautiful  sorrow,  and  as 
though  she  called  me  proudly,  to  a  better  contempt 
of  myself. 

"I  wish  you  had  a  mother,"  said  she  then,  and 
flushed,  the  holy  eyelids  low,  pinning  the  old  shawl — 
"as  it  is,  I  don't  know  what  to  say." 


250  VESTY   OF   THE   BASINS 


XXIV 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  SACRED  COW 

VESTY  came  next  day  at  evening,  but  she  took 
pains  to  be  found  in  company  with  almost  the  entire 
Basin. 

I  was  so  much  better  that  I  was  able  to  be  about 
and  receive  my  guests;  at  sight  of  Uncle  Coffin  even 
the  maimed  hand  seemed  to  tingle  healthily.  He 
marched  me  to  a  chair  with  an  ostentation  of  vio 
lence,  that  really  treated  me,  however,  with  the  soft 
est  gentleness,  and  sat  me  down. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye!  "  he  cried,  standing  off  and  regard 
ing  me.  "What  ye  been  a-doin'  of,  you  young 
smashin',  slashin',  cavortin'-all-around  young  spark, 
you !  " 

"Well, "said  I,  naturally  feeling  rakish  after  this, 
"  I  will  tell  you.  Miss  Pray  had  a  brood  of  chick 
ens  come  off  unseasonably  to-day,  who  desired  par 
ticularly  and  above  all  things,  having  taken  a  gen 
eral  outlook  on  life,  not  to  live.  Under  Miss  Fray's 
directions  I  have  been  amusing  myself  with  trying 
to  defeat  that  purpose.  I  have  watched  for  any 
signs  of  hope  in  their  world-disgusted  eyes,  dipped 
their  unwilling  beaks  in  food,  put  chips  upon  their 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    SACRED    COW  251 

backs  to  help  them  maintain  an  earthly  equilibrium 
— so  little  desired  by  them,  however,  that  oftener 
they  have  toppled  over  and  turned  their  infantile 
legs  entreatingly  upward;  but  I  have  conquered; 
they  live." 

"Wai,  neow, "  said  Captain  Leezur,  my  chiefest 
admirer,  "  ef  you  ain't  a  case  to  describe  anything 
in  natur' !  Ef  I  had  you  areound  I  shouldn't  never 
want  no  dagarrier  of  a  sick  chicken,  for  you'd  call 
'em  right  up  afore  me!  " 

I  murmured  my  low  thanks,  blushing  as  usual 
under  flattery. 

Vesty  was  talking  brilliantly  with  some  of  the 
company,  quite  away  from  me.  She  had  a  bright, 
disdainful  look,  when  I  chanced  to  glance  that  way, 
new  to  her,  but  quite  befitting — ah  me!  ah  me! — 
some  lady  one  might  dream  of,  of  high,  disdainful 
quality. 

"Ain't  he  a  case  neow  to  describe  anything  in 
natur'?"  joyfully  reiterated  Captain  Leezur  to  Uncle 
Coffin. 

Uncle  Coffin,  with  his  hands  on  his  knees,  shook 
his  head  at  me,  finding  no  words  quite  to  the  mark. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye!  "said  he;  "you  sly  young  dog, 
you!  " 

"That  's  what  I  tell  him!  "  rippled  the  deep-gurg 
ling  brook  of  Captain  Leezur's  voice;  "we're  jest 
like  nateral  twin-brothers.  Only,"  he  added  ten 
derly  and  gravely,  "he  ain't  nigh  so  ongodly  as  I 
use'  ter  be." 
"  "Ongodly!  Why,  dodrabbit  ye,  Leezur!"  said 


252  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

this  native  Artichoke,  "ye  never  done  an  ongodly 
thing  in  yer  life — 'cept,  maybe,"  he  added,  "to  cuss 
a  little  when  ye  was  fishin'  for  the  bucket." 

'  'Specially,"  said  Captain  Leezur  intelligently, 
"  when  the  women  folks  has  been  thar  afore  ye, 
r'ilin'  the  water  and  jabbin'  of  her  furder  deown. " 

Uncle  Coffin  gave  me  an  irresistible  but  a  loving 
and  true,  not  a  malicious,  wink. 

"Speakin'  o'  women  folks,  Leezur,"  said  he,  "is 
there  any  news  from  Lot's  wife? " 

Captain  Leezur  cleared  the  mellow  symphonies  of 
those  organs  through  which  he  intoned  his  speech; 
and  was  about  to  reply,  fully  and  sweetly,  when 
Captain  Pharo  made  his  appearance  at  the  door. 

Uncle  Coffin  sprang  from  his  chair,  and  with  a 
grave  face,  which  only  later  broke  out  into  those 
beams  of  affection  which  were  storming  his  bosom, 
shook  him  violently  by  the  collar,  dragged  him 
across  the  floor,  and  set  him  in  a  chair  by  the  fire 
place  with  a  loud,  conclusive  thump. 

"  Dodrabbit  ye,  man!"  said  he,  "I  hain't  heered 
your  voice  since  I  was  a  baby." 

Captain  Pharo,  with  a  countenance  full  of  delight 
and  sympathy,  pulled  his  ruffled  jacket  down  nearer 
to  the  waist  line,  and  lit  his  pipe. 

"Dodrabbit  ye,  Pharo!"  continued  Uncle  Coffin, 
and  turned  from  his  pet  to  me  with  another  wink, 
"what  are  yer  days  like  now?  They  ain't  like  the 
grass,  are  they?  I  b'lieve  they  are,  jest  like  the 
same  old  grass,  or  like  the  morning  flower,  the 
blighting  wind  sweeps  o'er.  She  withers  in  an' — 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    SACRED    COW  253 

why  don't  ye  never  finish  on  'er  out,  Pharo?  Why 
don't  ye  never  ring  the  last  note  on  'er — eh?" 

"Because,  Coffin,"  said  Captain  Pharo,  with  a 
smile  of  deep  meaning,  "because  thar 's  so  many 
things  that  when  they're  onct  finished  they  're  com 
pletely  done  for  in  this  world;  eat  a  meal  o'  vittles 
and  thar  's  the  end  on't;  smoke  a  pipe  an'  she  runs 
dead;  I  like  t'  have  one  thing  left  over.  I  like  to 
feel,  Coffin,  by  clam!  't  thar  's  somethin'  't  thar 
ain't  go'n'  to  be  no  end  on!  " 

Uncle  Coffin  had  been  studying  him  attentively, 
with  his  hands  on  his  knees. 

"  Kobbe, "  said  he,  "you're  a  ph/losoffarer. " 

Captain  Pharo  wiggled  uneasily. 

"I  don't  say  hippopotamar  nor  rhinosossarer," 
said  Uncle  Coffin;  "I  say  philosoffarer. " 

Captain  Pharo  drew  a  strange  breath  of  relief. 

"  Mebbe  we're  a  little  alike  in  that  respec',"  Cap 
tain  Leezur  assured  him  deliciously;  " 'cept  't  he 
ain't  nigh  so  ongodly  as  I  use'  ter  be." 

"I  don'  know,"  said  Captain  Pharo.  "I  have 
worked  sometimes,  Sundays — poo!  poo!  hohum! — 
but  not  'less  'twas  somethin'  'mportant,  gettin'  in 
hay  or  somethin'  like  that.  And  I  have — poo!  poo! 
hohum!  Wai,  wal — hauled  out  my  lobster  car  some 
times  Sundays  waitin'  for  the  smack — hohum!  " 

"  Pharo,"  said  Uncle  Coffin,  holding  up  his  finger, 
"no  more!  I  know  ye.  Thar  ain't  an  ongodly  bone 
in  yer  body — 'cept  maybe  when  ye've  lost  yer  pipe 
an'  cussed  a  little." 

"An'  the  women  folks  wants  to  haul  ye  over  some- 


254  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

whar's  on  a  flat  sea  to  have  yer  gol  darn  pictur' 
took!"  said  Captain  Pharo,  with  poignant  recollec 
tion  of  a  still  unquiet  grief. 

"  Kobbe,"  said  Uncle  Coffin,  "  no  more!  " 

"  '  I  know  not  why  I  love  her, 

The  fair  an'  beau'chus  she; 
She  bro't  the  cuss  upon  me, 

Und'neath  the  apple-tree: 
But  she  asked  me  for  my  jack  knife, 

And  halved  'er  squar'  with  me, 
Sence  all'as  lovely  woman 

Gives  the  biggest  half  to  thee.'  " 

"Judah's  wife  writ  that,"  exclaimed  Captain 
Pharo,  with  a  generic  awe  of  poetry  as  poetry. 

"She  did,"  said  Uncle  Coffin,  with  eyes  apprecia 
tive  of  the  muse  fixed  gravely  on  the  fire,  "  she  did." 

There  was  a  daughter  of  Eve  who  was  treating  me 
very  severely. 

Instead  of  the  old  encouraging  smile  and  gleam 
of  merry  recognition  or  sympathy  in  her  eyes,  there 
was  now  an  averted  gaze,  bent  very  brightly,  it 
seemed,  on  every  one  but  me;  in  that  direction 
alone,  a  studied  coldness,  a  haughty  carriage  of  tl.e 
head.  What  could  I  expect? — but  it  broke  my 
heart. 

I  subscribed  silently  to  the  mood  of  Belle  O'Neill, 
whose  mind  was  subject  to  vagaries,  and  who  in 
the  midst  of  the  gay  company  was  playing  weird, 
plaintive  "  revival  "  tunes  upon  the  mouth-harp,  en 
thusiastically  absorbed  in  her  art. 

Her  mistress,    Miss  Pray,   who  notably  for  some 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    SACRED    COW  255 

time  had  been  receiving  the  attentions  of  Pershal, 
the  man  who  had  been  in  California,  had  withdrawn 
with  him,  with  tacit  understanding  of  apologies,  to 
the  kitchen,  where  they  were  carrying  on  their  court 
ing,  as  all  good  Basins  should,  undisturbed. 

The  young  people  were  playing  a  game  of  forfeits. 
I  heard  Vesty's  penalty  pronounced;  it  was,  to  go 
and  put  her  hand  upon  "  the  handsomest  man  in  the 
room." 

She  began  to  move,  with  her  lovely,  erect  head 
and  brilliant,  averted  smile,  toward  the  fireplace. 
Surely  she  would  not  put  any  ignominy  or  mockery 
upon  me — ah,  no!  I  knew  in  my  heart.  But  she 
came  nearer,  and  I  gazed,  spellbound;  and  then  she 
bowed  her  beautiful  head  with  a  tender,  laughing 
smile,  and  laid  her  hand  on  Captain  Leezur's  shoul 
der. 

"  Here!  "  she  said. 

Oh,  how  he  laughed!  Robins  by  the  brook,  and 
sun-sparkles. 

"That  's  right,  Vesty!"  he  exclaimed;  "that  's 
right,  darlin'.  Come  and  kile  yourself  areound 
them  't  's  got  some  feelin's!  " 

He  winked  at  Captain  Pharo  and  Uncle  Coffin. 

The  sweet  girl  blushed  disdainfully — for  some 
one — and,  with  a  lingering  touch  on  the  dear  man's 
shoulder,  went  away. 

"I've  all'as  been  kiled  over  a  good  deal,"  ex 
plained  Captain  Leezur  gently,  with  a  smile  the 
subtlety  of  which  he  sought  in  a  measure  to  hide. 

"And  we  mustn't  forgit,"  he  added,  "that  thar  's 


256  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

a  time  for  all  things  under  the  sun.  Thar  's  a  time 
to  be  a  bean-pole  and  thar  's  a  time  to  kile. " 

He  winked  at  me;  fearing  that  I  had  not  under 
stood,  he  winked  still  broader;  then,  moving  his 
back  toward  his  two  companions,  he  directed  full 
upon  me  a  wink  so  vast  and  expressive  that  I  en 
deavored  at  once  to  signify  my  enlightenment  by 
replying  in  kind;  but,  unpractised  as  I  was  in  the 
art,  I  could  only  infer  what  the  unlovely  aspect  of 
my  features  must  have  been  from  the  look  of  sor 
rowful  disgust  which  immediately  thereafter  over 
spread  Vesty's  own. 

But  it  transpired  that  that  look  of  disgust  was  not 
for  me.  It  was  for  Belle  O'Neill,  who,  moved  by 
another  inspiration,  had  thoughtfully  abandoned  her 
mouth-harp  to  creep  through  the  surreptitious  chan 
nel  of  the  wood-box  and  learn  how  Miss  Pray  and 
Pershal  were  progressing  in  their  courting. 

She  returned  with  a  face  of  excitement. 

"Be  they  j'indin'  hands,  or  anything  like  that?" 
we  asked. 

"No,"  said  Belle  O'Neill:  "he  told  'er  winter 
pears  was  the  pears  for  him,  an'  she  giv'  him  a  slap 
an'  started  down  suller  to  get  a  dish  o'  fruit,  an'  he 
told  'er  when  she  come  back  he  was  goin'  ter  tell 
her  a  story  't  he  hadn't  never  told  or  dreamed  o' 
tellin'  to  anybody  but  her;  he  said  he'd  all'as  kep' 
it  to  himself,  'cause  folks  't  hadn't  been  inCaliforny 
was  ign'runt  an'  env'ous,  an'  wouldn't  believe  noth- 
in'  't  was  told  'em,  but  he  guessed  she  loved  him 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    SACRED    COW  257 

well  enough  to  b'lieve  it;  an'  he  said  the  name  of  it 
was  'The  Story  o'  the  Sacred  Cow!'  " 

On  uttering  these  words  with  a  countenance  of 
feverish  eagerness  and  expectation,  Belle  O'Neill 
unhesitatingly  turned  and  crept  back  through  the 
passage. 

Not  long  afterward  I  found  myself  lifted  bodily 
over  into  the  wood-box,  and  guided  by  the  silent 
wake  of  Captain  Pharo's  pipe  before,  and  entreated 
gently  by  Uncle  Coffin  from  behind,  I  crawled  to  the 
little  store-room  adjoining  the  kitchen. 

The  door  was  slightly  ajar;  and  with  whatever 
shame  I  have  only  to  record  that  I  stood  with  delec 
tation  by  this  door  and  waited  for  the  Man-Who-had- 
Been-in-California  to  tell  "  The  Story  of  the  Sacred 
Cow." 

"  Arter  all,  Jane,"  said  he,  plunging  his  knife  into 
a  choice  pear,  "you'd  orter  seen  the  winter  fruit  we 
use'  ter  have  in  Californy!  " 

Miss  Fray's  face  fell.  We  heard  Captain  Pharo 
groan  silently;  moreover,  his  pipe  had  gone  out, 
and  he  dared  not  relight  it. 

"  I  thought  you  was  goin'  to  tell  a  new  one — 
about  the  Sacred  Cow  ? "  said  Miss  Pray. 

"So  I  will,  Jane,"  said  Pershal ;  "but  the  fact  is, 
it  's  sech  a  true,  sech  a  solemn  an'  myster'ous  thing, 
that  I  fa'rly  dread  to  tackle  it!  " 

Belle  O'Neill  would  have  gasped,  had  she  dared. 
She  kicked  the  calf  of  my  lame  leg  convulsively 
instead. 

17 


258  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  Thar  's  been  a  great  many  stories,"  continued 
Pershal,  "  about  sacred  cows.  Folks  has  claimed  t' 
seen  'em.  Circuses  has  claimed  t'  had  'em:  but  the 
fact,  an'  the  solemn  fact,  is,  thar  wa'n't  never  but 
one  Sacred  Cow,  and  that  was  raised  on  my  farm  in 
Californy. 

"  She  was  white,  and  nothin'  monst'ous,  jest  about 
the  size  of  an  ordinary  cow  " — Captain  Pharo  drew 
an  inaudible  sigh  of  relief — "it  was  the  intellex  of 
her  and  the  sacredness;  wal,  the  go-to-meet'n-ness 
of  her,  as  ye  might  say,  that  was  so  monst'ous  an' 
so  strange  that  I  trem'le  to  call  itupag'in;  but  I've 
promised,  an'  I  will." 

Belle  O'Neill,  pale  in  the  darkness,  stifled  an 
other  gasp. 

"She  wa'n't  nothin'  byordinar'  as  a  calf;  run  an' 
gambil  around  with  the  other  calves,  bunt  every- 
thin',  an'  shake  her  heels  out  with  the  sinfullest. 
It  was  when  she  got  to  be  a  cow,  and  a  old  cow, 
that  these  here  ructions  o'  sacredness,  as  ye  might 
say,  begun  to  develop  themselves  in  her. 

"First  I  knew,  she  wouldn't  eat  nothin':  we 
warmed  her  mess  an'  we  salted  it;  no,  nothin'  'u'd 
do.  We  tried  all  manner  o'  gimcracks  an'  fussin' 
with  her.  Firtally  says  Jim — my  man — says  he:  'Per 
haps  she's  the  Sacred  Cow,'  says  he,  laffin',  an'  went 
in  an'  got  a  hymn-book  an'  sot  it  up  afore  her,  and  " 
— Belle  'ONeill  shivered — "what  does  the  old  cow 
do  but  pitch  in  and  eat  her  mess  regalar!  Minit  we 
took  that  hymn-book  away  or  shet  it  up,  she'd  stop 
eatin'." 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    SACRED    COW  259 

Captain  Pharo  and  Uncle  Coffin  nudged  each  other 
in  voiceless  agony.  I  felt,  but  could  not  see,  the 
calm  irradiance  of  Captain  Leezur's  look. 

"  Then  another  singalar  thing  begun  to  be  noticed. 
All  them  't  drunk  the  milk  from  her  was  took  an' 
possessed  to  jine  the  church!  I  use'  ter  send  out 
peddlin'  carts  o'  milk — for  my  ranch  was  the  biggest 
in  that  section — it  use'  ter  be  all  mixed  together 
in  course,  an'  the  smallest  elemunt  o'  that  old  cow's 
milk  in  it  made  it  jest  the  same  asef  'twas  all  hern. 
Sometimes  I  thought  ser'ously  whether  I  hadn't 
ought  to  take  her  and, go  around  an'  start  seasons  o' 
special  interest  with  her  all  over  the  kentry;  and 
then  thinks  I — no,  I'll  stay  here  and  I'll  let  'em 
build  new  churches.  So  they  kep'  a-goin'  up — three 
new  Baptis',  four  new  Methodis',  in  a  month's  time. " 

Captain  Leezur  w.as  softly  but  strenuously  suck 
ing  a  nervine  lozenge.  I  heard  Captain  Pharo 
crunching  one  down  stormily,  at  the  same  time  one 
was  pressed  into  my  hand.  "They  come  high," 
whispered  the  beloved  voice;  "cent  apiece,  dollar  a 
hunderd,  but " 

"But  the  strangest  and  singalarest  of  it  all,  I 
didn't  find  out  till  'long  toward  the  last.  I  was 
a-milkin'  on  her  one  day,  an'  I  spilled  the  milk  ac 
cidental,  an'  I  said  a  word  that  I  hadn't  ort'er  said. 
When  she  heered  that  she  up  an'  kicked  me,  an'  I 
give  her  tail  a  yank,  an'  she  began  to  sing " 

Belle  O'Neill  clutched  me  by  the  neck. 

"  I  don'  say  that  she  sung  as  Vesty  doos.  I  don' 
say  that  she  pernounced  the  words  jest  regalar;  but 


260  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

as  fur  as  tune  goes,  she  hit  the  tune  right  squar'  in 
the  bull's  eye  every  time.  She  sung: 

"  '  From  Greenlan's  icy  mountings, 

From  Injy's  coral  stran', 
Whar  Aferk's  sunny  fountings 
Roll  down  their  goldin'  san'; '  " 

And  when  she  got  as  fur  as  that" — Pershall  showed 
evidences  of  lively  distress — "  she  keeled  right  over 
an'  died. 

"You've  heered  o'  the  tewn  't  the  old  cow  died 
on?  Wai,  that  's  whar  it  all  started,  Jane;  right 
thar.  That  was  the  very  cow  and  the  very  event. 
It  was  my  old  cow  that  died." 

"  Give  me  sea-room  here,  by  clam !  "  muttered  Cap 
tain  Pharo,  shooting  his  arms  about. 

"  Ef  I  b'lieved  in  gho's,  I  sh'd  say  't  your  but'ry 
was  harnted,  Jane,"  came  from  the  kitchen  the  sol 
emn  and  shifty  voice  of  the  Man-Who-had-Been-in- 
California:  "  le's  step  around  by  the  outside  way  to 
the  door  whar  the  folks  is.  Jest  look  at  the  stars, 
Jane,"  he  continued,  when  they  were  safe  out.  "  See 
anythin'  o'  my  old  cow  up  in  the  Milky  Way  ?  Down 
in  the  southern  latitude,  whar  I  was,  the  Milky  Way 
use'  ter  be  so  plain  some  nights  't  ye  could  see " 

We  lost  it  in  the  distance,  as  we  returned,  by  the 
honorable  and  legitimate  highway  now  offered  us,  to 
the  guest-room.  "  I  never  keered  so  much  about 
money  in  the  bank,"  said  Uncle  Coffin,  giving  me  a 
nudge;  "all  't  I  ever  as't  for  was  luck!  " 

But  I  yearned  in  secret  to  know  the  developments 
of  the  Milky  Way;  especially  as  the  length  of  time 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  SACRED  COW       26 1 

absorbed  by  Pershal  and  Miss  Pray  in  walking  be 
tween  the  two  doors  advised  me  with  an  only  too 
tragic  hint  of  the  marvel  and  interest  I  had  lost. 

I  could  not  wonder  that  Vesty  was  now  loftier 
toward  me  than  ever.  Uncle  Coffin,  Captain  Pharo, 
Captain  Leezur  and  I  kept  close  together  as  a  sort 
of  brazen  and  disgraceful  community.  Uncle  Coffin, 
having  to  retrace  his  steps  to  Artichoke,  was  the 
first  to  leave  the  party. 

"I  can't  tell  ye,  Miss  Pray,"  said  he,  "how  much 
I've  enjiyed  the  evenin' — no,  honest,  I  can't  tell 
ye! " — he  winked  at  Captain  Pharo,  who  choked  and 
had  to  resort  to  song — "  but  I  und'stand  thar  's  a 
happy  event  comin',  an'  I  wish  ye  jiy;  ye  know 
I  do!" 

As  he  disappeared  down  the  road  he  indulged  in  a 
continued,  loud,  and  exact  imitation  of  Admiral  'S  I 
Sums-it-up  (who  was  also  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
who  married  people) : 

"G'long,  ye  old  fool!     Git  up,  ye  old  skate!  " 

At  which  we  all,  including  Pershal  and  Miss 
Pray,  laughed  inordinately,  gazing  out  into  the 
sweet  Basin  night;  and  indeed  I  was  even  ready  to 
avow  with  my  life  that  it  was  a  joke  of  the  extrem- 
est  savor.  Even  had  all  Uncle  Coffin's  sins  been 
known,  he  would  have  been  forgiven. 

Captain  Leezur  put  on  Vesty 's  shawl  for  her: 

"Sence  I'm  the  han'somest  man  in  the  room,"  he 
gurgled. 

"So  you  are!"  The  tender,  girlish  light  of  her 
great  eyes  was  on  him;  no  kind  look  for  me. 


262  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"  Vesty !  "  Captain  Leezur  whispered,  but  a  whisper 
that  could  not  be  dark  and  secret  to  save  itself;  I 
heard:  "why  don't  ye  speak  to  major?  Ye  ain't 
spoke  tew  words  tew  him  the  hull  endurin'  evenin'." 

She  darted  a  dark  flash  at  him  too. 

"Vesty!  Vesty!"  said  the  beloved  old  man,  in 
that  whisper  that  so  thoroughly  deceived  him — "  I 
know  't  I  set  ye  up  to  this  bean-pole  business.  But 
it  won't  dew  for  both  on  ye  to  be  bean-poles.  One 
or  the  other  on  ye  's  got  to  kile.  Neow,  Vesty,  ye 
know  't  major  's  got  some  misfortin's  in  his  looks  't 
makes  him  beound  to  be  preoud;  ye  wouldn't  have 
him  other  ways.  Ye  see,  Vesty,  he  don't  know  't " 

She  stopped  him  with  a  haughty  look. 

"An*  in  course,"  said  he,  "I  don't  know,  neither. 
But  it  dews  make  me  feel  dreadful  t'  think  I've 
started  sech  a  rank  bean-pole  farm  as  this,  when 
I've  all'as  told  ye,  my  little  gal,  't  we'd  ort'er  use 
moderation"^Captain  Leezur  wiped  his  blessed  shin 
ing  eyes — "moderation  in  all  things,  even  in  pass- 
nips — I  have  said — an'  neow  I  change  it  to  bean 
poles." 

Vesty's  mouth  quivered;  her  eyes  looked  fit  to  en 
fold  the  whole  sinful  world  for  his  sake. 

"Good-night,  major!"  she  said  coldly;  but  she 
had  spoken.  And,  beautiful  and  tall,  she  passed 
out  of  sight. 

As  Captain  Leezur  turned  to  me,  in  spite  of  the 
dark  duplicity  of  his  conduct  toward  me,  my  heart 
gushed  out  to  him  unawares.  I  grasped  his  hand 
silently. 


IN    THE    LANE  263 


XXV 

IN  THE   LANE 

I  MET  her  on  the  morrow  in  the  lane.  She  would 
have  passed  me  with  a  mere  morning  salutation, 
but  I  spoke  to  her.  "  I  will  tell  the  story  at  least," 
I  thought,  "before  I  go  away." 

"  Vesty,"said  I  timidly.  Even  the  handsomest  of 
the  Basins  were  timid  in  putting  the  question;  and 
I,  so  miserable,  and  believing  it  not  to  be  a  question 
at  all,  but  only  a  confession,  was  choking. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Vesty,  with  reassuring  meekness, 
but  there  was  something  wicked  about  her  mouth 
and  eyes.  O  Vesty,  had  you  been  of  the  world  I 
fear  you  would  have  been  a  sad  one! 

"What  did  you  mean,"  said  I,  starting  in  wise 
Basin  fashion,  at  a  millennium  distance  from  the  in 
tended  point,  "  what  did  you  mean,  the  other  night, 
when  you  said  that  you  wished  I  had  a  mother?  " 

"Oh,  because  we  all  need  them,  for  comfort — and 
then,  sometimes — for  correction." 

"  And  which  did  you  think  that  I  needed  one  for  ?  " 

Vesty  turned  her  sheathed  eyes  away  toward  the 
safe  west  with  a  smile  that  gave  me  no  other  answer. 

"  It  is  lifting  to  be  a  glorious  day,"  I  said. 


264  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

"If  you  want  to  talk  about  the  weather,"  rippled 
the  girl's  voice,  quite  gently,  "why  don't  you  go 
and  sit  on  the  log  with  Captain  Leezur?  He  rolled 
down  another  this  morning." 

"I  am  going,"  I  sighed.  "What  do  you  think 
he  would  tell  me  about  the  weather?" 

"What  we  all  say:  'The  wind's  canting  in  from 
the  west,  and  you'll  see  this  fog  hop.'  " 

"  It  is  what  I  say,  and  shall  say  forever,  in  such 
a  case.  'The  wind's  canting  in  from  the  west,  and 
you'll  see  this  fog  hop.'  " 

"You  only  pretend  to  be  a  Basin!  " 

"  God  forgive  you !  No;  I  don't  pretend.  I  shall 
never  get  over  it.  I  shall  be  one  forever  and  ever, 
wherever  I  go,  Vesty. " 

She  looked  down  and  paled.  "Are  you  going 
away,  major  ? " 

"Yes."  Then  said  I,  looking  at  her,  "  How  far 
do  you  think  pity  could  lead  one,  Vesty — you,  so 
pitiful  and  kind?  Do  you  think  that  it  could  even 
lead  you — to  marry  me?  To  take  little  Gurd  and  go 
away  with  me — and  help  me  to  live — for  pity?" 

"No!  oh,  no!"  she  gasped. 

"Then,"  said  I,  grasping  hard  on  my  cane  with 
my  feeble  hand,  "as  God  wills!  " 

"  Because,"  said  Vesty,  "I'm  not  so  unselfish  as 
that.  I  can't  marry  you  for  that  reason — because — 
I  love  you !  " 

The  red  of  the  Basin  sunset,  that  would  be  by  and 
by  unsurpassed,  glowed  in  her  cheeks. 

As  for  me — forever  a  Basin — I  dashed  my  hand 


IN    THE    LANE  265 

across  my  eyes.  A  Voice  above  land  and  sea  tolled 
toward  me  in  that  moment,  through  her  voice,  in 
gathering  waves  that  covered  all  the  pitiful  acci 
dent  and  despair  of  a  maimed,  halting,  birth-marked 
universe : 

"  And  the  crooked  places  shall  be  made  straight; 
and  the  rough  places  plain.  Then  shall  the  lame 
man  leap  as  an  hart."  .  .  . 


266  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 


XXVI 

JUST  THE  SCHOOL-HOUSE 

WAVES,  slowly,  softly  breaking,  not  on  the  Basin 
shore:  though  ever,  in  remotest  lands,  we  dream 
of  that. 

We  hold  it  mystic  more  and  more,  for  love  of  it! 
— ay,  we  have  it  mingled  in  our  thoughts  with  that 
one  safe  and  sweet  possession,  the  Land  unspoken, 
the  Basin  whose  colors  dawn  at  eventide! 

And  we  never  count:  "Such  an  one  was  lost," 
and,  "  Such  an  one  was  living,  when  we  knew."  For 
there,  there  are  none  lost.  They  live  again! 

I  suggested  once  that  we  should  build  a  house  fit 
ting  those  grand  sea-cliffs,  sometimes  to  occupy  it. 

But  Vesty,  ever  wise,  was  silent,  troubled,  and  I 
read  her  thought. 

No,  we  should  introduce  no  discordant  element 
there,  of  liveries  and  servants,  and  riches  and  seclu- 
sive  walls,  of  mine  and  thine. 

"Mine  is  thine  if  thou  needest  it,"  was  ever  the 
Basin  code:  "even  my  life!"  Before  such  a  spirit 
the  admission  of  worldly  wealth  and  rank  were 
tawdry. 

But  Vesty  communicates  with  them    (dear  to  me 


JUST    THE    SCHOOL-HOUSE  267 

when  they  arrive  are  the  stamps  unutterably  erased 
by  Lunette's  faithful  art) :  and  we  know  that  they 
are  happier  for  us,  and  by  us  comforted. 

And  do  I  never  blush  for  Vesty  in  her  new  posi 
tion?  Ay,  a  thousand  times,  for  pride  and  joy! 
Her  manners  are  from  a  high  source  indeed ;  you  will 
not  find  me  any  that  are  higher. 

Full  are  her  hands  of  charity  and  mercy,  given, 
as  the  great  Founder  of  our  nobilities  gave,  without 
stooping,  of  condescension.  Saint  Vesta!  who  gives 
a  glory  to  my  name  it  never  had  before — the  high 
and  noble  lady  of  my  house! 

And  love  makes,  as  fully  as  may  be  in  this  world, 
security  about  her  steps,  which  yet  it  would  not 
hamper. 

Driven  in  her  state  carriage,  robed  in  velvet  and 
sable,  she  is  royal;  yet  not  so  queenly,  not  so 
matchless,  as  when  walking,  pitiful,  lonely,  and 
strong  against  misfortune,  by  the  Basin  shores,  with 
her  child  upheld  upon  her  arm,  and  the  old  shawl. 

One  evening  I  found  her  by  the  window,  gazing 
out  wistfully  where  the  wind  was  tossing  the  rain, 
which  ceased  now  and  then  in  strange  intermittent 
gusts,  still  wild  of  the  tempest. 

She  looked  up  at  me  with  a  smile,  trustful,  but 
earnest  and  pathetic. 

"  I  want  to  go  out  in  the  storm,"  she  said. 

"Then  go,  child,"  I  answered  her.  "Your  pos 
sessions  are  wide,  and,  as  we  of  the  Basin  say,  you 
are  not  made  of  sugar,  to  melt;  neither,"  I  added, 
"are  you  like  Lot's  wife." 


268  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

She  showed  her  fine  teeth  over  that  old  tender  and 
beloved  reminiscence,  but  the  wistful  look,  and  sad, 
was  still  in  her  eyes. 

"And — I  would  like  to  put  on  the  old  shawl 
again,  just  this  once,"  she  said. 

"Oh,"  said  I,  "that  is  another  thing.  That  is 
priceless,  and  I  have  it,  as  you  know,  locked  among 
my  treasures.  Still,  this  once,  yes."  And  I  brought 
it  to  her. 

Still  smiling  at  me,  as  pleading  for  her  fancy,  she 
held  it  at  her  throat  as  of  old. 

I  made  haste  to  resume  my  reading  with  seeming 
preoccupation  apart,  for  I  thought  she  wished  to  go 
alone. 

"Aren't  you  coming?  "said  she,  wistfully  again, 
and  paled  and  turned  to  me. 

The  look  in  her  eyes — she  wanted  me!  Oh,  how 
my  heart  leaped — a  trick  taught  it  at  the  Basin, 
which  now  it  will  never  get  over. 

But,  sly  as  Captain  Leezur,  I  hid  my  delight  in 
the  folds  of  my  great  overcoat. 

Long  we  walked  together.  "  What  inspired  you 
to  this?  This  is  best  of  all,"  I  said. 

"  Why  ? "  said  Vesty,  glowing  and  beautiful. 

"Because  now  I  see  again  that  you  are  'Vesty.' 

And  my  Lady  of  M was  a  possible  dream  always. 

But  Vesty  seemed  unattainable. 

"That  rose  color,"!  added,  looking  at  her  cheeks, 
"  I  never  saw  anywhere  except  at  certain  sunsets — 
you  know  where." 

For  we  of  the  Basin — however  wilfully  inclined 


JUST    THE    SCHOOL-HOUSE  269 

sometimes,  as  Captain  Pharo — at  heart  bow  down  to 
our  wives,  and  make  love  to  them,  long,  long  after 
we  are  married:  quite,  indeed,  until  death  do  us 
part,  as  all  true  Basins  should. 

"  Paul !  "  said  Vesty.  Now  "  Paul  "  was  really  my 
name,  with  considerable  before  and  after  it,  but 
never  mind  all  that. 

"  Paul ! " 

"  Well  ? "  I  said 

Confused  with  the  rose-color  blushes:  "I  forgot," 
she  murmured,  "what  I  was  going  to  say." 

No,  she  had  not  forgotten  it!  Her  face  was  elo 
quent;  only  she  cannot  talk  with  that  fluency  with 
which  she  Can  look  beautiful  and  sigh.  Especially 
when  she  would  express  anything  of  deep  feeling, 
she  has  a  way  of  brushing  a  speck  of  dust  from  my 
right  shoulder,  and  letting  her  hand  rest  there  a  mo 
ment,  that  tells  me  worlds,  but  would  not  go  for 
much,  I  admit,  on  a  smart  female  rostrum. 

But  "  Paul !  "  that  voice  creeps  to  me  at  all  times, 
for  counsel,  for  sympathy;  comes  impulsively,  that 
is  the  best  of  it — comes  ever  impulsively.  1  do  not 
know  why  I  am  so  blessed  among  my  fellows!  Just 
as  the  lad  comes  to  me — he,  too,  of  the  highest 
breeding.  I  never  saw  a  look  of  wonder  or  shrink 
ing  on  his  face;  and  once,  in  an  llness  that  he  had 
he  clung  to  me,  cried  for  me,  even  above  his  mother. 

I  gave  my  heart  to  him  then.  When  a  sick  child, 
with  a  mother  like  Vesty,  turns  and  clings  to  one — 
well,  it  is  like  to  set  one  up. 

He  quotes  me,  refers  to  me,  defends  me,  apes  all 


270  VESTY    OF    THE    BASINS 

my  mannerisms,  and  struts  with  them  proudly  as 
clear  legal  type  and  documentary  evidence. 

He  has  my  name,  Gurdon  "Paul,"  with  the  rest:  he 
is  my  heir.  Handsome,  stalwart,  as  our  race  has 
notably  been;  loving,  generous,  fearless,  all  that 
the  world  can  give  him  will  be  his  besides;  tutors, 
splendors,  wide,  luxurious  travel,  the  entrance  to 
glittering  courts — only,  God  grant  that  he  may  find 
just  the  Basin  at  last! — the  true,  the  pitiful,  the  pure 
of  heart:  that  he  may  come  up  to  the  stature  of  his 
father,  who  knew  but  one  plain  path,  and  that  the 
royal  one;  who,  in  the  battle  with  fear  and  death, 
was  greater  than  the  storm. 

So,  often  in  rich  and  high  cathedrals  with  Vesty 
by  my  side,  the  organ  has  but  to  peal  forth  plain 
tively,  and  those  stately,  emblematic  windows  fade 
away  to  others,  broken,  swaying  in  the  wind,  and 
the  roar  of  the  tides  comes  in,  and  high  above  the 
great  clouds  pass  wondrously. 

And  I  think  how  the  Christ,  painted  in  purple  and 
crimson  glories  in  these  walls,  and  before  whose 
image  the  hosts  bow  down,  was  a  poor  Basin  of  the 
Basins,  in  His  birth  and  in  His  death ;  who  had  never 
a  sure  pillow,  and  who  minded  all  woes  save  His 
own. 

And  above  the  written  scroll  of  the  preacher  I 
hear  the  old  prophetic  voice,  how  "  not  many  wise 
men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble,  are  called."  .  .  . 

Vesty  walks  this  new  way  with  me,  that  was  not 
of  her  knowledge  or  choosing,  with  a  patience  in  any 


JUST    THE   SCHOOL-HOUSE  271 

tedious  form  or  imposed  convention,  far  surpassing 
mine. 

Then  I  tell  her  that  I  am  only  an  adopted  Basin, 
and  have  missed  so  many  of  the  first  important  years 
of  good  breeding;  when  I  was  taught  to  be  only 
moody,  if  I  would,  and  solitary  and  selfish. 

Then  she  turns  the  rose-color,  and  her  eyes  shine 
on  me;  and  if  I  have  been  patient  with  some  vapid 
visitor,  uttering  weary  commonplaces  (longing,  oh 
how  infinitely,  all  the  while  in  my  heart,  for  Cap 
tain  Leezur  and  the  log!)  she  comes  to  me  after 
ward,  and  leans  over  me  with  a  caress  and  says, 
"That  's  a  dear  Basin!" 

Thus  I  observe  always  my  lady's  rank,  and  am 
happy  when  she  exalts  me  to  it. 

Sometimes  in  dark  hours,  when  gigantic  shadows, 

unexplained,  oppress  heart  and  soul lo!  the 

"Boys"  play  softly  to  us  once  again  upon  instru 
ments  above  our  art,  with  a  touch  that  thrills  above 
these  masters. 

We  recognize  that  life  is  not  a  draught,  either  of 
joy  or  misery,  but  a  sweet,  stern  task  set  us,  in  a 
failing  tenement;  and  half  between  smiles  and  tears 
we  dream  how,  to  that  darkening  school-house,  when 
the  shadows  grow  heartbroken  and  weary,  some  lov 
ing  Basin,  only  great  because  of  the  faith  that  was 
in  him,  shall  come  to  lead  us  home. 


THE    END 


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